Riga - Old Town part 1 - Town Hall Square, Riverfront

Old Town - South part
TOWN HALL SQUARE, ST PETERS CHURCH, RIVERFRONT, HISTORIC BUILDINGS

The Old Town is the heart of Riga, where you can find old well preserved buildings, the castle, restaurants, souvenir shops and tall churches. It is where most tourists go, but actually it is only about 5% of Riga. The Old Town is part of the UNESCO World Heritage and reminds of Tallinn's old town as well as German hansa cities. Many of the most beautiful historic buildings, like St Peter's Church, the Town Hall and House of the Blackheads where either bombed during WWII or destroyed by fires, but have been rebuilt the latter decades after the fall of the Soviet rule. The Town Hall Square is the heart of the Old Town. Riga has some of the world's best examples of jugend style architecture. This page is the about the south and most central part of Old Town, around Town Hall Square.

Link to part 2 here.

TOWN HALL SQUARE (RATSLAUKUMS) AND LATVIAN RIFLEMEN SQUARE (LATVIESU STRELNIEKU LAUKUMS):

Town Hall Square (Ratslaukums in Latvian) is the heart of the Old Town. Here you find the Town Hall (not in this picture), St Peter's Church (background) and the House of the Blackheads (right). It is situated just one block from the riverfront.

The Town Hall, from which the square was named after. It was destroyed during the WWII and rebuilt as late as in 2003.

The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia

Town Hall Square (Ratslaukums)

The House of the Blackheads (Strelnieku Idukums). The original building was built between 1580 and 1886 for the Brotherhood of Blackheads in the 14th century, a guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. The structure was bombed to a ruin in 1941 by the Germans. Not until 1995 the beautiful current building begun construction, and was completed in 1999.

The House of the Blackheads

Restoration works on the House of the Blackheads. Looks dangerous!

Town Hall Square: Buildings in different styles in front of St Peter's Chuch.


Riga Technical University, Latvian Riflemen Square		War Memorial of Latvia, Sculpture of Latvian riflemen (1915-1920)		War Memorial of Latvia, Latvian RiflemenSquare (next to Town Hall Sq)


Town Hall (right) and Riga Technical University (left), Latvian Riflemen Square		Gable of the House of the Blackheads, Town Hall Square		Modern building, Town Hall Square

St Peter's Church, the most famous and tallest church in Riga. It is a Lutheran church that was first mentioned in 1209, and completed in 1746. The spire is 123m tall, one of the tallest in the world. Artillery fire destroyed the tower in 1941, but it was reconstructed in 1976, mostly in Baroque style.

St Peter's Church

St Peter's Church has an observation tower on top, that can be reached by elevator.

The interior of St Peter's Church.

Entrace, St Peter's Church

St Peter's Church

Kalku iela. Baroque buildings and St James church tower near Town Hall Square.

House of the Blackheads

The Roland statue, patron of Riga, in front of the House of Blackheads

St John's Church, Skarnu iela

Roland statue, Town Hall Square

Skarnu iela

St John's Church,

Skarnu iela (Butcher's street) is a very beautiful street near the Town Hall Square, with historic buildings.


Skarnu iela (Butcher's street)		Audeju iela		Pomodoro restaurant, Old Town


Street scene, Old Town		Skarnu iela		Marstaju iela

Marstaju iela with the cool Pirma Rock Café with its oversized electric guitar and lamp!

Church on Marstaju iela

Pirma Rock Café

Marstaju iela


Kaleju iela		Kaleju iela		Church towers seen from Kaleju iela


Street scene, Old Town		Street scene, Old Town		"Rock" is a popular word in Riga!


Contrasts: St Peter's Church and new residential building		Street scene, Old Town

TIRGONA IELA:

Tirgonu iela. There is a small square next to this street near Town Hall Square with beautiful historic buildings and a cozy large open-air pub. The strange thing is that the quare has christmas decoration, even in summer!

One of the odd sculptures at Tirgonu iela

The decorated christmas tree


Tirgonu iela		Tirgonu iela open air pub		The decorated christmas tree

Tirgonu iela, a mix of old and postmodern buildings.

Latvian souvenir shop next to the square

Kramu iela, looking towards the cathedral

Galerija Centrs, a modern shopping galleria situated right in the Old Town. It incorporates a part of an old buildings. The stores are about the same as in Sweden.