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The Riga Castle (the Old Town of Riga)
The history of the Riga Caste began in the year of 1330, when its construction was undertaken by the knights of the Livonian Order. In the year of 1642, when Riga was under the control of Sweden, there was a new wing attached to the construction of the Castle from the side of the river Daugava, and this new wing has survived till present days.
In the course of its entire history, the Castle has been used specifically for the needs of generals, governors, as well as rulers.
In the year of 1938, the Riga Castle came into possession of the government of Latvia.
Nowadays, the Riga Castle – is the official residence of the President of Latvia. There are two flags flying at the top of the Castle – the flag of the Republic of Latvia, as well as the flag of the President.
When the President is in the country, the flag flies at full mast, but when the President leaves the borders of Latvia, the flag is then half-masted.
Besides, there are several museums located within the walls of the Castle: the Museum of Foreign Art, the Museum of the History of Latvia, as well as the Museum of Literature, Theatre and Music.
"Three Brothers” (the Old Town of Riga)
The three buildings located in Maza Pils Street is a clear-cut example of the dwelling architecture of the medieval Riga.
These three houses, just like three brothers, are standing tight to each other, in spite of the destructive influence of time.
The oldest of the “brothers”, which is the right one in the row, assuming you are standing in front of the buildings facing them (you can see the oldest “brother” on our photo – on the right, i.e. the White Brother) is the oldest of all the survived stone building in Riga. In the 15th century, this building was made of wood, but the experience of medieval people clearly showed that wooden houses are very easily subject to fire outbreak, which in the blink of an eye could result in the whole city being on fire. That is why at the end of the 15th century, the present “brother” was successfully reconstructed into a stone building. As there is a coat of arms on the house depicting spikes, it believed that in the Middle Ages this particular house belonged to a baker. Don’t forget to pay attention also to the masterfully made oak doors with decorative wainscoting, to which the knobs of quite unusual form are attached.
The “middle brother” (on our picture – the one in the middle) was constructed in the year of 1646. The style of this building refers to the style of Flemish mannerists, since during those times the residents of Riga had established tight contacts with merchants from the Netherlands. You can find the date of its construction on the building’s façade.
The “youngest brother” (on our photo – the one on the left) – this building was constructed at the end of the 17th century in the style of Baroque.
During the Second World War, Riga was severely destroyed, and the “three brothers” thus became the first architectural objects to be completely reconstructed. The reconstruction was carried out in accordance with the project developed by L. Saulitis in the years of 1955-1957.
The Dome Cathedral (the Old Town of Riga)
The Dome Cathedral – is the oldest and most dignified cathedral in entire Latvia in all epochs. The construction works of the Dome Cathedral and the Monastery began in the year of 1211 and lasted in the course of several centuries. The name of the Cathedral comes from the Latin expression – “Domus Dei”, which means “House of God” in its translation into the English language.
The Cathedral was founded on 25 July, 1211 on Saint Jakob’s Day, while the bishop of Riga was Albert of Buxhoeveden.
The bishop himself was keeping a close eye on the construction process of the Cathedral, making enormous investments into the construction. The construction, in turn, was directed by experienced masters, predominantly, the Germans.
At first, the building of the Dome Cathedral has been executed in the so-called transition style – from the Romanic to the “Northern Gothic”. In the 1520s, part of the Cathedral was destroyed by fires. Due to the money resources deficiency only one of the earlier planned towers was reconstructed in the year of 1547. 50 years since, the brick tower with a wooden spire was built over, thus topping in terms of height the tower of the Saint Peter’s Cathedral which was located only 140 meters away. Nevertheless, the wooden spire demanded constant repair, that is why in the course of the following 10 years the spire was dismantled, and thus a cupola-shaped spire built in the style of Baroque was erected in its place.
The total height of the dome was 90 meters.
The Dome Cathedral is world-famous for its main attraction, which is, certainly, the organ. The organ was produced by the company named “E.F.Walcker & Co”, and brought from the city of Ludwigsburg. It was installed in the 1880s. The organ amazes everyone with its size – in terms of height the organ is equal to a three-storey building, and it comprises 6 768 pipes, 4 banks and 6 windbags.
Such world-famous composers as Franz Liszt and Max Reger produced compositions for the organ of the Dome Cathedral. Even at present times, while taking a walk in the Old Town of Riga, you can hear some captivating melodies played out by the organ.
At present, the Dome Cathedral is the main church building of the Evangelical - Lutheran Church of Latvia.
The Swedish Gate (the Old Town of Riga)
The Swedish Gate – is one of the well-known sights of the city of Riga, which has survived since the 17th century. The legend tells us that the building, where the gate is located these days, once belonged to one wealthy merchant of Riga. He once cut out this passage so that he would not need to pay the money for the import of goods into the city all the time. As a result, later on the merchant himself began taking passage money. There was the gate installed in the arch, which at night was locked by means of huge deadbolts. At the time of plague, the gate was locked, and one young girl tried to escape the city in order to be together with her beloved, but she failed, and the cruel guards of the Gate simply walled her up. Since then, at times you can hear the sounds that remind of the poor girl’s weeping.
There is another legend that a hangman was living next to the Gate, who the citizens of Riga frequently turned to. The hangman was summoned by putting a glove on the window-ledge of his house. When the day of the execution came, the hangman put up a red rose in his window, thus informing the city dwellers about the upcoming bloody spectacle. This is the only gate in Riga, which has been preserved it its original appearance.
The Powder Tower (the Old Town of Riga)
 The Powder Tower was constructed in the 13th century, and this was the largest tower in entire city, which meanwhile protected the overland access to the city.
The earliest name of the present Powder Tower was “Sand Tower”, because at the beginning of the 14th century the Tower was a part of the Sand gate – a particular protective system, which comprised 25 defence towers.
Since the 17th century, the Tower was used for storing powder, thus it later on got its present name “Powder Tower”. During the wars, the Tower faced an attack, and subsequently, only the basement and the cellar survived.
For many years the Tower was abandoned, and only in the year of 1892 some German students appealed to the city’s authorities to restore the Tower. And only in the 90s there was the Latvian Military Museum established which is fully available to visitors these days.
The Cats’ House (the Old Town of Riga)
The building was constructed in the year of 1910 in accordance with F. Shefel’s project. As the legend says, the building was constructed by one wealthy Latvian merchant, who was not admitted into the Guild, where the Germans ran the show, so he constructed this building, meanwhile, putting two metallic cats on its roof, with the cats’ backs being turned to the Guild.
After a long trial, the cats were ultimately rotated 180 degrees, and the merchant was left with nothing.
The Small Guild and the Large Guild (the Old Town of Riga)
Guilds are citizen unions and professional societies. Guilds started to be formed since the year of 1221.
The Small Guild – is an organization comprising craftsmen of Riga.
The Large Guild – is a merchant organization.
The Small Guild was founded in the 13th century. The first building was constructed in the 14th century, and has been numerously reconstructed since then. The present building was constructed in the course of the years of 1864 – 1866, and was last restored in the year 2000.
There is a rich interior in the building: the windows have been decorated with stained glasses comprising crafts emblems, portraits of the foremen of the crafts and of the Guild, there are chandeliers in the rooms, as well as wall paintings with a magnificent view of the city.
The building of the Guild was also used for merchants’ meetings and gatherings, conclusion of contracts and deals, organization of meetings with merchants coming from other partner cities, as well as for regular celebrations, festivities, banquets, and other important events within the framework of the merchants’ professional organization.
Only those merchants who were of German origin could become members of the Large Guild, and these members of the Large Guild dealt with protection of interests of persons of German origin only, thus ignoring the needs of representatives of other national communities.
The Statue of Liberty (the Center of Riga)
The Statue of Liberty – is a symbol of the independence of Latvia. Starting from the moment when Latvia acquired its independence, the people of Latvia started searching and looking for various artistic and architectural solutions. The Statue was constructed for the money donated by the inhabitants of Latvia, and was actually built during the years of 1931 – 1935, with its author being the celebrated Latvian architect - Karlis Zale. The Statue of Liberty holds three stars in its hands - the symbols of the following historical areas in Latvia: Kurzeme, Vidzeme, as well as Latgale.
Around the pedestal, there are the following sculptural compositions: “Guards of Fatherhood”, “Mother Latvia”, “Labour, and Family”, and others. The whole Statue is facing the West; however, figures in chains bent in a bow are directed to the East.
It is amazing that the symbol of Independent Latvia managed to survive during the Soviet Times. Naturally, in the course of the “Perestroika” time, the Statue of Liberty was the central place for rallies and pickets. Also here, in the year of 1994, Bill Clinton declared America’s support for the independence of the Baltic States.
In the year of 2001, there was a complete reconstruction of the monument. Now, there is a guard of honour round the monument; numerous festivities take place on a regular basis on its square.
Convent Yard (the Old Town of Riga)
The place, where the Convent Yard is located at present, originated from the 13th century, when there was the castle of the Order of the Brothers of the Sword located with the adjacent houses and yards, according to which the present Convent Yard got its name.
These days, the Convent yard – is an independent little world located in the center of the Old Town of Riga, comprising a hotel, the Museum of Porcelain, a number of antique shops, as well as numerous cafes and restaurants. There are only four entrances to the Convent Yard, all of them getting locked up at night.
Saint Peter’s Cathedral (the Old Town of Riga)
 Saint Peter’s Cathedral is mentioned in the chronicles dating back to the 13th century. This was the central or main church building of medieval Riga. One of the oldest schools once also operated there. The Cathedral was numerously subject to fires, thus it was both added on and reconstructed. Last time the Cathedral was on fire was at the time of the Second World War, when a missile hit the Cathedral’s wooden tower. Subsequently, in the 1970s the wooden tower was replaced by a metallic one.
The total height of the tower of the Cathedral is 123, 5 meters, 64, 5 meters of which is the spire. The spire of the Cathedral has been decorated with a cockerel’s figure, the latter performing two functions; the first function is – carrying out the functions of a weathercock by indicating the direction of the wind. The cockerel was painted in two different colours: one side of it was black; the other side of it was golden. When the wind was blowing from the sea, the cockerel turned its golden side in the direction of the city, and thus glittering in the rays of the sun, let merchants know that their ships with cargo could soon enter into the bay. If the wind was blowing from the land, the cockerel showed its black side, and the merchants knew that their deals would not be concluded that day, since the ships could not enter into the port of the city.
The second function of it was a protective one, since the cockerel according to Latvian folklore is a symbol of vigilance, as well as it is considered to be a guard from all sorts of evil spirits.
Saint Peter’s Cathedral is a Lutheran Church, and on Sundays there are church services taking place in the Cathedral.
The House of Blackheads (the Old Town of Riga)
The House of Blackheads was founded by the Brotherhood of Blackheads in the 14th century. Among the members of the Brotherhood were young, not married travelling merchants, whose main patron was Saint Mauritius, who himself came from Africa, and whose round black head was shining on the coat of arms of the Brotherhood. The Brotherhood’s business was a rather risky foreign trade: put differently, delivering goods from all over the world to Riga. Till the 17th century, the House of Blackheads was the main rented place for various sorts of merchant meetings and celebrations, and only in the 17th century, the House of Blackheads came in full possession of the Blackheads. That was the time when the exterior design of the building constructed in the style of Northern European Mannerism, so characteristic of the Brotherhood of Blackheads, appeared. There were rooms for representative needs, and also rooms for storing overseas goods which were brought to Riga from all over the world. At different times, Russian tsars and tsarinas also attended the festivities organized in the House of Blackheads, either officially or incognito. Among the decorations of the hall of the House, there were grand portraits of monarchs coming from Russia and Sweden, including, the portrait of Ekaterina II, presented by the monarch herself. In the book of the honorary attendants of the House, among many other names you can see the autograph left by Bismarck. There is also a secret underground passage leading to the river Daugava, in other words, to the harbour of the river belonging to the Blackheads.
On the square in front of the House of Blackheads, there is a statue of Roland – the symbol of judicial power, freedom and independence of the medieval city, as well as the symbol of trade protection. There is also a museum and a concert hall located within the walls of the House of Blackheads.
Bremen Musicians (the Old Town of Riga)
As it is commonly known, the merchants, who found themselves in the firth of the river Daugava in mid 12th century, came exactly from the city of Bremen. Since then, many German seamen had become regular guests in this part of the world.
Bremen has always been considered to be a sister city of Riga, this is why it was not incidentally that the world-famous Bremen Musicians, the gift presented by our German friends, got their own permanent place of residence in the city of Riga. It has become a heart-warming tradition for visitors of the city to mark their stay in Riga by taking a photograph of them standing next to the statue of Bremen Musicians.
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