A Day in Riga

The M/S Romantica docked at the port in Riga on Saturday at 11 am and the passengers disembarked quickly. Some, like us, were carrying backpacks and were there to sightsee for the day. Others were hauling suitcases, perhaps going home. We had investigated Riga on the internet (www.liveriga.com and www.rigalatvia.net) and been given a briefing of the city onboard the evening before and picked up a map that was quite sufficient for our needs. It highlighted the top 12 tourist attractions and listed 67 houses that were “objects of Art Nouveau.” With map in hand, we headed out.

It was only a 15 minute walk into town, but we were constantly sidetracked on our way to the Tourist Information office by interesting sights and sounds. Riga was celebrating its 810^th anniversary the weekend of August 20-21 (yes, it was founded in 1201!), and we were in the middle of music, singing, dancing, beautiful parks, mimes, pony rides, a short parade and many locals who had come out for the occasion.

Here are four highlights of our day! We spent part of a rainy morning at the Latvian Occupation Museum. The museum presents the history of Latvia from 1940-1994, years in which they experienced both Soviet and Nazi German occupation. The exhibition shows agreements, documents, photographs and objects that tell the story of the Latvian population, the tragedy caused by invading foreign powers, the appalling conditions in which they lived and their resistance to the occupying powers. It was a somber experience. It made us so thankful to have been born in the USA.

The sun came out, and we saw St. Peter’s Church, one of the most ancient examples of medieval churches in the Baltic region. It was first built in the 13^th century, and a Baroque wooden steeple was installed in 1690 – the highest in the world at that time. It was burned down during WW II and restored in 1973. It houses many lovely pieces of handmade tapestry as well as ancient epitaphs and burial plaques.

Across a canal and housed in four dirigible hangars that were never used for that purpose is Centraltirgus – City Market. Each section of the market houses a different type of commodity. There are fish and other seafood (dried, fresh, frozen, cooked and raw), fresh fruits and vegetables and clothes. I was surprised at how much smoked fish was for sale.

The element of Riga that got me most excited when I first read about it is the fact that it has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO because of the number (around 800) and density (40% of buildings in the center of Riga) of their art nouveau buildings. It is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe. Art Nouveau was first expressed in fabrics and graphic design. This style spread on architecture and furniture in the 1890's. Art Nouveau buildings often have asymmetrical shapes, arches and decorative surfaces with curved, plant-like designs. Moreover, art and architecture connoisseurs believe that it is in Riga that art nouveau found especially powerful and sweeping expression.

The Freedom Monument

Michael Jackson Russian dolls

After a day of walking, touring, watching, looking and listening, we were tired and headed back to the ship, happy with all the discoveries we'd made that day.