The octagonal Lutheran Church of Jesus, designed by architect H. F. Breitkreic and to the rear of the unmissable Latvian Academy of Sciences, was constructed in 1818 (renovated 1939) and, with its 37 metres high two tier tower, it is the largest wooden church in Riga and one of the largest wooden churches in Europe. Given its colour it is hard to tell that this is a wooden building until you are right up beside it. Continue reading “Church of Jesus”
While walking around the Moscow District make sure you do not omit dropping into this small flea market on Sadovnikova iela. Continue reading “Latgale Market (Latgalīte)”
Within four months of the Nazis occupying Riga on 1 July 1941, a Jewish ghetto had been set up in the Moscow District of the city. 30,000 Jews where forcibly moved into the ghetto. Within weeks, 24,000 of its occupants were forced marched to Rumbula forest on the outskirts of the city and shot. Thousands more were shot or otherwise eliminated within the city. Throughout Latvia, between 1941 and 1945 70,000 Jews were killed by or under Nazi direction. Continue reading “Monument to Zanis Lipke and All the Saviours of Latvian Jews”
In one of the most blood curdling crimes perpetrated by the Nazis in Riga, on 4 July 1941 (three days after taking control of the city from the Red Army) they herded hundreds of Latvian and Lithuanian Jews into the basement of the Great Choral Synagogue and then burned the building to the ground. Everyone therein perished. Continue reading “Great Choral Synagogue – Memorial”
All Saints Church was not my list of things to do in Riga for the simple reasons that it is not mentioned in mainstream tourist literature and I had not come across it during my online research.
I came across it by chance, and only because I noticed its very distinctive green copper domes, while wandering around in the Moscow District. Continue reading “All Saints Orthodox Church”
Trams first entered service in Riga in 1882. The city’s first trams were horse drawn and chugged along at around 10 km per hour, actually quite a respectable speed, I feel, when you consider they could carry up to 40 people. Continue reading “Horse Drawn Tram Sculpture”
The closest I came to the Riga Radio and TV Tower was when I visited the Grebenshchikov Old Believers Church, just across the Daugava River. Even from this distance the tower is a very impressive Soviet built structure. If viewing from the church, do not be tempted to walk down the road depicted in my attached pictures with a view to reaching the tower. The bridge-less (at this point) Daugava River is just behind the building which appears to be, though is not, at the base of the tower in the picture. Continue reading “Riga Radio and TV Tower”
The original wooden Old Believers church, established by Aleksandr Grebenšhchikov on this site, was built in 1760. Its replacement, officially the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, was built in 1814 and remains home to one of the largest congregations of Old Believers in the world. The stunning tower and gold dome were added in 1906. Continue reading “Grebenshchikov Old Believers Church”
Prior to 1725 Jews were not permitted to bury their dead in Riga and the closest Jewish cemetery was some 40kms away at Jelgava. Continue reading “Old Jewish Cemetery”
One of my fondest memories of Riga is the half day or so we spent wandering around the Moscow District (Maskavas forštate), also (or rather officially) called Latgale, and in so doing discovering one of the lesser-explored parts of Riga. The Moscow District, Riga’s first suburb outside the walled Old City, dates back to the 14th century though nothing of the medieval period remains to be seen to-day. Continue reading “Take a Walk in the Moscow District”
The Rambling Wombat 