Riga

Riga was founded in 1201 by Albert of Buxhoeveden, Bishop of Livonia, who brought crusaders and merchants to a settlement on the Daugava river, close to its mouth on the Baltic Sea. Livonian tribes, Latvians and Livs had lived there before, and a trading site existed at the river bend. The bishop’s aim was to control the region and its trade, and in 1202 he founded the military order of the Brothers of the Sword, which merged into the Teutonic Order. Riga became a city of German merchants, and in 1282 it joined the Hanseatic League, the network of northern trading towns.

The trade was in timber, grain, flax, wax and furs, moving between the Russian hinterland and the Baltic Sea. The wealth built the guild halls, warehouses and churches that survive: the Cathedral begun in 1211, St Peter’s Church, and the two guild halls on Amatu iela. The Reformation reached Riga in the 1520s, and the city turned Lutheran. Sweden took it in 1621 and held it until 1710, when Russian troops under Peter the Great captured it after a siege and a plague that killed a large share of the population.

Under Russia, Riga grew into one of the empire’s great ports and industrial cities. The old walls were pulled down in the 1850s and the boulevard ring and parks replaced them, so the medieval core has a green belt around it. Railways, factories and a growing Latvian population changed the city: by the late 19th century Latvians were the largest group and were building a national movement. The song festivals began in 1873, and the first of them made a cultural claim before a political one.

The 20th century shaped what you see and what is missing. Latvia declared independence on 18 November 1918, in the aftermath of the First World War, and held it for 22 years. The Soviet Union occupied the country in 1940, Nazi Germany in 1941 and the Soviet Union again in 1944. Riga lost a large part of its people to deportation, war and the Holocaust; Riga’s Jewish population was almost destroyed, with tens of thousands murdered in the ghetto and at Rumbula in 1941. Independence was restored in 1991, and Latvia joined NATO and the EU in 2004. The euro followed in 2014.

The Old Town, Vecrīga, is a tight web of lanes between the Daugava river and the boulevard ring, and it is the part of the city that looks and feels medieval. Most of it is reconstruction: wars, fires and the 20th century destroyed much of it, and buildings such as the House of the Blackheads were rebuilt in the 1990s after being wrecked in the Second World War. UNESCO listed the historic centre of Riga in 1997, for both the medieval layout and the Art Nouveau districts.

The rhythm of the district follows its trade. Town Hall Square (Rātslaukums) was the market and civic centre; the Blackheads house, a guild for unmarried foreign merchants, faces the Roland statue, a symbol of city rights that many Hanseatic cities used. Dome Square (Doma laukums) holds the Cathedral, where the largest medieval church in the Baltics stands beside a cloister and an organ built in the 1880s. St Peter’s Church, with a tall spire, is the main landmark; a lift takes visitors to a platform for a view over roofs and river.

Amatu iela, the street of craftsmen, holds the Great Guild and the Small Guild halls, each with a stepped gable and a hall for meetings and concerts. The Three Brothers, on Mazā Pils iela, are a row of medieval houses of different ages: the oldest dates from the 15th century. The Swedish Gate, cut through the old wall in 1698, and the Powder Tower survive from the fortifications. The Cat House on Meistaru iela is known for two black cats on its roof, a joke played by a merchant on the Great Guild after being refused membership.

Practical points matter here. The cobbles are hard on wheels, and many buildings have steep stairs and small lifts. Bars are dense on Kaļķu iela and Līvu laukums and some of them add large charges: check the menu and price before you order, and do not follow a stranger who offers a drink. The best time for walking is early morning or evening, when tour groups are absent and the light is low on the stone.

Around 1900 Riga was one of the fastest-growing cities in the Russian Empire, and its new middle class built apartment blocks in the fashion of the day: Art Nouveau, called Jugendstil in the German-speaking world. Between about 1899 and 1914 architects filled the districts north of the boulevards with facades covered in masks, garlands, sphinxes, birds and stylised plants. More than 700 Art Nouveau buildings survive, roughly a third of the buildings in the central district, and UNESCO counts Riga as having one of the finest collections in Europe.

The district around Alberta iela and Elizabetes iela is the showcase. Mikhail Eisenstein, an architect whose son was the film director Sergei Eisenstein, designed some of the boldest facades, with large faces, columns and sculpted figures. Konstantīns Pēkšēns designed a building at Alberta iela 12 in which the Art Nouveau Museum now stands, in an apartment restored to its 1903 to 1905 furnishings. The facades are not only decorative; they announced the wealth and taste of the owners, and some of them show a national romantic strain, using Latvian motifs.

The buildings are homes and offices, not exhibits, so the way to see them is from the pavement across the street: look up, and look above the doors. Some staircases and lobbies are visible through open doors; do not enter courtyards or photograph through windows. On a dry morning, when tour groups are absent and the light is low, the street is quiet and the stone shows its relief. In winter the facades are darker, and rain makes the colour deeper but the walk less pleasant.

Not all the facades are restored; some are cracked and scaffolded, a reminder of how the 20th century left them. Renovation has been steady since the 1990s, and the growing appreciation of the style has brought a few small museums and walking tours. If you want more, tours led by guides explain the symbols; if you want less, a 45-minute walk from the boulevard to Alberta iela and back is enough.

The Freedom Monument stands on the boulevard where the Old Town meets the modern centre, and it explains more of Latvia than any building. It was unveiled on 18 November 1935, funded by public donations, and designed by the sculptor Kārlis Zāle with the architect Ernests Štālbergs. A tall column rises 42 metres, carrying a female figure known as Milda who holds three stars above her head, standing for the historic regions of Latvia. The inscription reads ‘For Fatherland and Freedom’.

The Soviet authorities left it standing after 1944, possibly because it was hard to remove and the figure could be read as ‘Mother Russia’. It stayed a place of quiet resistance. In 1987 a first public demonstration laid flowers at its base, an act that helped begin the Singing Revolution, the peaceful movement that led to independence. In 1989 about two million people across Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania linked hands in a human chain, the Baltic Way, across 600 kilometres. In January 1991, as Soviet forces moved in Vilnius and Riga, people built barricades in the streets of the Old Town.

Memory here is real and recent. The Latvian Occupation Museum tells the story of the three occupations; the Riga Ghetto and Latvian Holocaust Museum recalls the destruction of the city’s Jewish community; and the Central Market’s Zeppelin hangars, the Freedom Monument and the Saeima (parliament) all appear in that story. A visit is best made with quiet respect: photograph the monument from a distance, do not sit on the base, and treat ceremonies as ceremonies.

The honour guard at the base changes on the hour, and on 18 November, 4 May and 11 November the square fills with people, flags and candles. The dates matter: Proclamation Day, Restoration of Independence Day and Lāčplēsis Day mark the state’s beginning, its return and its defenders. If you visit on one of them, plan for road closures and crowds, and check for museum hours.

Riga’s Central Market is the best single introduction to what Latvians eat. It was opened in 1930 in five large pavilions built from German airship (Zeppelin) hangars, brought from the Vaiņode airfield after the First World War, and it is one of the largest markets in Europe. Meat, fish, dairy, and vegetables have their own pavilions, and open-air stalls sell fruit and flowers. The building is part of the UNESCO-listed historic centre.

The dishes are hearty and simple. Rye bread (rupjmaize) is the staple: dark, dense and slightly sweet, it is eaten with butter, herring and cheese, and it is the base of a cold dessert too. Grey peas with bacon (pelēkie zirņi ar speķi) is a national dish. Smoked fish, from herring to eel, is a specialty of the coast. In summer the cold beetroot soup, aukstā zupa, is a pink, tangy dish with kefir and dill. Bacon buns (speķa pīrāgi) are the standard snack, and sklandrausis, a pie with carrot and potato in a rye crust, is a regional sweet.

Drinks matter too. Riga Black Balsam, a herbal liqueur made to a recipe from 1752, is the traditional souvenir: dark, bitter and sweet, 45% alcohol, tried in coffee or with blackcurrant juice. Latvian beer has both large brands and craft brewers, and kvass, a mild bread drink, is a summer favourite. Mead and honey drinks appear in Old Town bars and markets. Shops may not sell alcohol at night, and bars vary in their prices, so check.

The practical advice is to eat where locals eat. A self-service canteen such as Lido gives a full lunch for €6–12; the market pavilions offer soup and pies for less; and a dumpling counter gives a hot bowl for about €5. For a dinner, book a table and check the menu prices, especially in the Old Town. Avoid places with a tout at the door and a menu without prices.

Latvian is an Indo-European language of the Baltic branch, and its closest living relative is Lithuanian. About 1.3 million people speak it as a first language. It has long vowels marked by a macron, soft consonants marked with a comma or a caron, and stress on the first syllable of a word. A large Russian-speaking minority lives in Riga, which is the legacy of the Soviet years, and Russian is widely heard in shops and streets. In tourist areas English is the easiest choice, and a Sveiki or a Paldies is appreciated.

Song is the national art. The first Latvian song festival was held in 1873, and the tradition became the focus of national feeling under both empires. A Song and Dance Festival is held about every five years, with tens of thousands of singers in massed choirs, and UNESCO recognised the Baltic tradition in 2003. The open-air stage at Mežaparks, north of the centre, holds thousands of singers, and the last festival was held in 2023. Folk songs, called dainas, are short verses of four lines that carry the country’s myths and seasons.

The year is a cycle of markers. Midsummer, Līgo and Jāņi on 23 and 24 June, is the biggest holiday: people leave the city for the countryside, wear wreaths of oak leaves and flowers, eat caraway cheese and drink beer, and light bonfires. Shops and restaurants in Riga close for much of it. Lāčplēsis Day on 11 November honours those who fought for independence, with candles along the river. Proclamation Day on 18 November marks the 1918 declaration, and the Christmas market in Dome Square runs from late November, with a claim to the first decorated Christmas tree in Europe in 1510.

For travellers, the year decides the trip. Midsummer is beautiful but closed; November is dark but full of events; summer is light and crowded on the beaches; winter is cold but cosy, with a market and warm interiors. Plan the Old Town for early morning, the market for before 11:00, and Art Nouveau for a dry morning, and leave space in the day for a café. Latvians are reserved, and their reserve is not coldness; a quiet, kind tone works better than a loud one.