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| City Fortification Wall and Tower |
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| Docked on the River |
Riga, Latvia, belonged to the Hanseatic League, which was a
medieval Germanic trade confederation in Northern Europe. Cities like Hamburg,
Luebeck, Riga, Tallinn, Dortmund, and many others supported thriving commerce
and were instrumental in creating great wealth amongst European merchants. Many
of the guild halls – characteristic of the Hansa Cities – have survived to this
day.
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| Built 1334 - Rebuilt 1999 - House of the Blackheads |
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| City Square with House of the Blackheads and Cathedral |
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| The Old German Influence: Acting against Law and Conscience, will change God's Blessing into a Curse |
In one of the city’s main squares is the reconstructed House
of the Blackheads, which belonged to powerful 14th century UNMARRIED
Hansa merchants. Why celibacy was considered beneficial for trade escapes me.
Riga was founded in 1201 by Bishop Albert of Riga, one of
the German Crusaders. Between 1621 and
1710 it belonged to Sweden. Peter the Great, Russian Tsar, owned it for a while
in connection with the Great Northern War. 1040 saw Stalin swallow it up into
the Soviet Union, together with Estonia and Lithuania.
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| Lenin - still hanging out in some windows...together with his pet gnome |
During WWII it suffered major damage and destruction,
leaving many of the medieval buildings – not to mention the rest of the city –
in ruins. Much has been reconstructed, but most of the city still has an air of
dilapidation and decay. The Soviet Union (Russia) ‘owned’ Latvia until 1991,
when the country finally attained independence. A large portion of Riga
citizens is still ethnically Russian and speaks Russian.
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| Trompe D-Euille on a damaged wall, the windows are fake, just painted on the surface |
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| Downtown |
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| Old Restaurant in the City |
Hangers, where Zeppelins were built and housed, are now
converted into a huge central market, where most of the meat being sold is
either smoked, turned into sausages or consists of various animal innards.
Being spring, lots of cherries and strawberries are offered at comparatively
reasonable European prices. Hand-knitted items are quite stylish and are
available en masse at better prices than elsewhere.
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| Zeppelin Hangars, converted into a market |
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| Smoked Chicken |
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| Chicken Innards... |
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| No Photos, even of the Strawberries... |
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| Hand Knitted Socks |
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| The local brew off a vendor stand near the market |
The city has one of the highest concentrations of Art
Nouveau buildings in Europe, much of it designed by Mikhail Eisenstein, the
father of the famous Russian film maker Sergey Eisenstein. The contrast of Art
Nouveau against medieval fortifications and city walls makes for an interesting
city scape.
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| Russian Inscription on an Art Nouveau Building |
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| Beehive and bees in a shell |
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| Eisenstein's Influence |
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| City Square, hoping for sunshine.... |
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| Cat House |
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| Door Adornment in Art Nouveau Style |
Latvia is a member of
the European Union and uses Euros as its currency. However, it appears to me
that there is a long way ahead of the country before it may overcome decades of
Soviet influence and reach a comparable standard of living with founding
members of the European community. One has to grant the citizens Kudos for
trying hard; they may even rediscover how to smile…
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| Dog House |
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| Photo Exhibition |
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| Young Busker |
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| Richard Wagner was here |
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| Tailor Shop |
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| Older Busker |
It was quite cold and it rained buckets at frequent
intervals while we were docked along the Daugava River, about 30 minutes’ walk
distant from the Old Town. Nevertheless, I braved the elements and walked
around Old Town until I was semi frozen. I managed to view some of the
significant buildings of the city trying to keep my little umbrella from
turning turtle in the gusty winds. One forgets that heading far north could be
as cold as heading far south….and I have already sent my Antarctic woollies
back to Canada!
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| Spring in Latvia |
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| Adornment on the Bourse |
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| Taking a Walk Downton |
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| House Front in Down Town |
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| Adios Latvia!! |
