Riga, Heart of Freedom

Owing to its clean natural environment and advantageous geographical location, Riga is the most important city beside the Baltic Sea. The 800 years old city has numerous buildings, all constructed in different style, and an abundance of culture. It is definitely worth visiting.

There is a legend about the origin of the city. Once upon a time, a long ago, before the city of Riga was founded, a tall strong man named Lielais Kristaps (Big Christopher) carried people across the Daugava River. Kristaps lived in a cabin on right bank of the river. While sleeping at night, Kristaps heard a small child crying on the other side of the river. He immediately rose to fetch the child, and began to carry it across the river. Half way across, the child became so heavy that Kristaps barely managed to get to the other bank. Exhausted, he laid the child down to sleep in his shack, and fell asleep himself. The following morning Kristaps awoke to find a large chest of gold coins where the child had been. Upon his death, the money was used to found the city of Riga, the first building was built on the spot where Kristaps cabin had once stood. Now, Daugava and a small canal divide the city into three parts.

Old Town, the Heart of Riga

The Freedom Monument is a memorial located in Riga, honoring soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence (1918–1920). It is considered an important symbol of the freedom, independence, and sovereignty of Latvia. Unveiled in 1935, the 42-metre high monument, constructed from granite, travertine, and copper, often serves as the focal point of public gatherings and official ceremonies in Riga. The sculptures and bas-reliefs of the monument, arranged in thirteen groups, depict Latvian culture and history. The core of the monument is composed of tetragonal shapes on top of each other, decreasing in size towards the top, completed by a 19-metre high travertine column bearing the copper figure of Liberty lifting three gilded stars.

Every tourist in the Old City will try to look for the Black Cat and there is an interesting story about the cat. Getting into the Great Guild in Latvia in the 14th century was an incredibly huge honor. Similarly, getting snubbed from the Great Guild was a gigantic insult. One Riga local was so offended that he attached a black cat on top of his building so it would cast its evil glare upon the Guild for as long as the building would stand. With an arched back, the Black Cat of Riga seems ready to strike and clearly states the man’s displeasure at not getting admitted to the Guild. Obviously, the members of the guild hated the sculpture, and a fight between the man and the guild raged for months to come. Although an agreement was reached and the statue turned around, the Black Cat still sits on its perch in Old Town Riga.

If you are careful, you may find that there is a golden rooster on every roof in the Old City and that is another symbol of the city. Local residents believe roosters can counteract evil spirits. The rooster used to be golden on one side and black on the other side, so that wind direction can be gauged. At present, it is totally golden and maybe that is good wish for money. St. Peter's Church is one of the oldest church in Riga. A fantastic panoramic view awaits visitors at the top of the church tower. The viewing platform is at 72m above the city. At the top of the church spire is a golden rooster - the most famous of all the roosters in Riga. Just like the others, this also serves as a weathercock. The legend says that when the rooster sings his morning song, all the evil has to disappear. Doma Laukums, located hundreds of meters away, is the best place to view the Old City. There is a giant organ made in 1844 in the church and it is the treasure of the church.

Swedish Gate is part of the Old Town walls that went around Riga during the medieval times, serving the functions of a fortification wall, as well as an important border for trade purposes. The Swedish Gate was called so in 1698 to celebrate Sweden’s occupation of the city. A legend tells of how a local girl, who fell selflessly in love with a Swedish soldier on duty near the Swedish Gate, was sealed within the City Walls by the gate as warning to others and a punishment for fraternizing with the soldier, something very much prohibited at the time. Apparently, any visitor, him or herself capable of selfless love, visiting the wall at midnight can still hear the unhappy girl whispering, “I love him.”

Market in Hangar

Riga Central Market is Europe's largest market and bazaar in Riga. It is one of the most notable structures from the 20th century in Latvia and has been included in UNESCO World Heritage Site list together with Old Riga in 1998. The main structures of the market are five pavilions constructed by reusing old German Zeppelin hangars and incorporating Neoclassicism and Art Deco styles. In the five pavilions, you can separately buy fishes, meat, dairy, articles of daily use, and agricultural products. Outside the pavilions, there are also many customers and you can buy all kinds of fruits, vegetables, local products, cheap clothes, flowers and so on. This market is open 24 hours a day. At night, you can eat bread and home-made cheese. You can even find pig heart, pig heads, pig ears and pig feet here. Chef Mārtins Sirmais said these ingredients originated from Russian cuisine but now people do not eat them anymore. He is a famous cook that usually appears on cuisine TV shows. He runs a restaurant located at wall of the Old City. The major ingredients he uses are fresh vegetables, fishes, and fruits, but he cooks them in a fantastic way.

New Art, New Life

New City of Riga is at the right bank of the peaceful canal of the city. Radisson is probably the tallest building at this area. Because of its unique shape, local residents do not like this hotel, but SkyBar at the top floor is a great place to overlook the whole city. With fancy environment and fashionable music, this bar attracts many trendy young people. After leaving former Soviet Union, Riga has been tried to study from Europe in the past 20 years. Different from conservative and tedious predecessors, young people now wear fashionable clothes, look confident and always wear a smile. The average height of local ladies is 170 cm. They are as gentle as European ladies and have the figure of Russian girls. The female population of Riga is 20% more than male population, so every girl tries to keep beautiful. September 1st, is the day the new school semester begins. In the morning, all children are dressed well then go to school with colorful flowers in the hand. Many parents are dressed up and accompany the child. They usually take a picture at the gate of the school and that is so sweet. I believe you will be touched if you see this sight.

The New City arose at the end of 19th century. At that time, the economy boomed and the city began to expand fast. At that time, the style of architecture changed. The architects put many female elements in the buildings. Promoted by funds and technologies, many stone buildings rose straight from the ground in Riga in a short time. There are many beautiful buildings on Alberta Street and Elizabeth Street constructed in the new art style. Architects showed their extraordinary imagination. Many strange things appeared on the buildings, including monsters, strong men, beautiful goodness, dragons, phoenixes, half-man half-monster and so on. They are architectural treasures of the human.

The Best Reading Place

The right bank of Daugava River used to be plain and peaceful. In that old district, there were simple houses and deserted factories, and they looked gray. In 2014, National Library of Latvia, which cost 300 million dollars, was completed at the right bank and it became a new landmark of Riga. This new library was designed by the famous architect Gunnar Birkerts. He got inspiration from an old folk story of Latvia in which three men tried to save the princess in prison. They rode across a glass mountain and freed the princess after the difficult journey. The construction of this library was as tortuous and difficult as the old story. After independence from the Soviet Union, Latvia was short of funds and the construction of this library stopped from some time. Anyway, it was finished after 20 years of hard work. One of the characteristic cornerstones of the National Library of Latvia, which characterizes every national library, is the formation of the collection of national literature, its eternal storage and long-term access. The design is people focused and there is an abundance of entertainment space for kids and adolescents.

On the west of National Library of Latvia is the Latvian Railway History Museum, which was transformed from a deserted train station. There are more than a thousand items, documents and photographs in the museum collection. Communications and signaling equipment, tools and instruments of railroad repairmen, uniforms and distinguishing badges, station interior objects, tickets and delivery notes are all on display. On the rail, there are trains of different models from different time. In the old green train, you can see seats made of wood and they are still complete after 100 years. The space inside is a little bigger than trains nowadays. The design of the luxurious carriage is very tasteful and you can imagine that the upper class was very picky about the quality of their travel. At present, the railway department is trying to resume some old trains in vintage style. It will not be long before you take the train with the conductor in vintage uniform to the beach of the Baltic Sea.

(This article is translated from Lonely Planet. Editor: Liu Hong, Author: Uncle Long Shank, photographer: Gray Northwest. Do not reprint it without permission. For more information, please visit We-Chat lptraveller.)