Riga, capital of Latvia

The Dear Leader · #1 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 11:11 AM**

Arguably the nicest of the three Baltic capitals (which says something seeing as Tallinn and Vilnius are quite picturesque as well). Has a wonderful old town that gives you a good idea of the wealth it amassed as a member of the Hanseatic league. Also known for its Jugendstil architecture. Latvia was part of the Soviet Union, regained its independence in the early 1990s and is now both a member of the EU and the eurozone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riga

Soviet monument:

Riga

Grand architecture that is reminiscent of Vienna or Paris:

Riga

Riga

Courtyards that can be found all across the city:

Riga

Jugendstil:

Riga

Riga

Presidential guard:

Riga

Riga Castle, residence of the Latvian president:

Riga Castle

Riga

The Dear Leader · #2 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 11:14 AM**

Riga

Riga

Historic spires:

Riga

Typical street in the old town:

Riga

The Dear Leader · #3 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 11:14 AM**

Riga

The Dear Leader · #4 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 1:49 PM**

The spire of Riga Cathedral:

Riga

Riga

A couple of modern highrises on the other side of the Daugava river:

Riga

MonkeyRonin · #5 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 3:16 PM**

Great shots. Riga seems like a fascinating place, visually at least, but what's it like food, culture, vibe, etc-wise?

Echoes · #6 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 4:07 PM**

I want to get to the Baltic states so badly. Riga looks great.

The Dear Leader · #7 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 5:30 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by MonkeyRonin

Great shots. Riga seems like a fascinating place, visually at least, but what's it like food, culture, vibe, etc-wise?

Sadly I can't really provide you with any decent answers since I only spent a couple of nights there and it wasn't purely a vacation. For what it's worth, it definitely "feels" like a major European city though, not like the capital of a country with a population of less than 2 million.

Main square of the city adjacent to the cathedral:

Riga Cathedral Square

Cathedral itself:

Riga Cathedral

Freedom Monument to commemorate Latvia's independence after WWI:

Riga

Soviet monument:

Riga

Riga Cathedral

Old stock exchange:

Riga

The Best Forumer · #8 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 5:37 PM**

Looks nice... very walkable.

The Dear Leader · #9 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 5:47 PM**

Older wooden building:

Riga

Riga

Jugendstil:

Riga

Orthodox Nativity Cathedral:

Nativity Cathedral Riga

mrnyc · #10 Posted **Sep 29, 2017, 7:44 PM**

outstanding thread. i would love to visit riga sometime.

a helsinki/tallinn/peter trip is definately in the works though.

The Dear Leader · #11 Posted **Sep 30, 2017, 9:56 AM**

More Jugendstil:

Riga

Riga

"Skyscraper" from the late 1930s:

Riga

City canal:

Pilsetas Kanals Riga

The Dear Leader · #12 Posted **Sep 30, 2017, 12:12 PM**

French embassy:

French Embassy Riga

Riga

Latvian central bank:

Central Bank Riga

mousquet · #13 Posted **Sep 30, 2017, 2:04 PM**

The French officials are being spoiled over there, if you ask me.
I'm not quite sure France's so-called grandeur still can afford this kind of stuff.
That may be some sorry shopkeeper mindset from me, still, that's a lot of details to keep clean for a single official façade, isn't it?

Pretty sure some growing local businesses can handle this more easily than the Fr state crumbling under its debts and the EU requirements for wiser government budgets.
We should sell this thing for a more humble building.

The Dear Leader · #14 Posted **Sep 30, 2017, 3:13 PM**

Macron deserves such a place for his visits!

Freedom Monument (with the inscription "For Fatherland and Freedom"):

Riga / Freedom Monument

Riga

dc_denizen · #15 Posted **Sep 30, 2017, 5:26 PM**

wow, this is grander than helsinki, let alone Talinn.

The Dear Leader · #16 Posted **Sep 30, 2017, 5:48 PM**

The castle:

Riga Castle

Riga

St. Peter's Church:

St. Peter's Church Riga

Docta_Love · #17 Posted **Sep 30, 2017, 6:38 PM**

Thanks for posting, beautiful city that we don't see often. I'm amazed how much of the historic city is still intact after WWI, The Soviet Occupation, WWII and communist urban planning.

The Dear Leader · #18 Posted **Sep 30, 2017, 9:41 PM**

Yeah, I was quite surprised to see the extent of the city's destruction in pictures of Riga taken immediately after WW2. At least today the city looks like a place that escaped any sort of major damage during the war. A pretty striking difference compared to most German cities that may have sustained similar damage and were rebuilt with little regard for what had been there before the war.

mrnyc · #19 Posted **Oct 1, 2017, 5:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by dc_denizen

wow, this is grander than helsinki, let alone Talinn.

haha, i saw what you did there not mentioning st petersburg.

so helsinki yes, although that has other charms, but why grander than tallinn (or vilnius for that matter)? the three seem similar in that respect, no?

The Dear Leader · #20 Posted **Oct 2, 2017, 3:06 PM**

Riga

Jugendstil Riga

Riga