Maris Liepa Monument

Moving across from the Freedom Monument towards the Latvian National Opera I was attracted by this graceful brushed aluminium figure by the canal. It is a very modern and eye-catching sculpture of Maris-Rudolf Eduardovich Liepa, a Latvian ballet dancer whom I had never heard of.

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An Englishman in Riga

The first decade or so of the 20th century was a very prosperous period for Riga. It was a major trading and manufacturing hub and the third largest city in the Russian Empire, of which is was part at the time.

Meet at the Laima Clock

in my review on the Freedom Monument, a stones throw from the Laima clock, I indicated that it was a rallying point for Latvian patriotism and pro-independence demonstrations.

Should you merely want to catch up with a friend, rather than display your patriotism or start a demonstration, you should do this at the Laima clock,

Freedom Monument

While it is not the largest monument in Riga (the Soviet Victory Monument takes that honour, by a long shot), the modernist Freedom Monument, dominating the view as you head east along Brivibas iela from the Old City, is certainly the peoples’ favourite.

Never ending love in Riga

‘Love locks’ – padlocks which sweethearts lock to a bridge or similar public structure to symbolise their love for each other – are thought to date back, in one form or another, to an old Chinese tradition.

Bastion Hill and Memorial Stones

This small hill within what is now called Bastion Hill Park (Bastejkalns) is an artificial hill created between 1857 to 1863 when the city ramparts were dismantled after the Crimea War. By that stage, due to advances in warfare and weaponry, the ramparts no longer served any useful military purpose. Material from the ramparts was used to build up the banks of the former moat, now the winding Pilsētas kanāls, and create the 15m high Bastion Hill. The whole area was planted and developed and became Bastion Hill Park (Bastejkalns), now a delightful park between the Old City and the more modern city.

National Theatre

What is now the National Theatre of Latvia opened in 1902 as the Riga City 2nd Theatre, the city’s second Russian language theatre. On 18 November 1918 the declaration of Latvia’s independence from Russia, after almost 200 years of occupation, was read from the stage of this theatre.

Bastion Hill Park

Bastion Hill or Bastejkalns Park is a delightful little park located on the eastern side of the Daugava River between the Old City and the newer central part of Riga. The park itself is divided in two by, or perhaps more accurately runs along the banks of, the winding Pilsētas Canal, formally a moat and part of the Old City’s defensive system which was pulled down in the mid 19th century making way for the park.

Soviet Victory Monument

The imposing Soviet Victory Monument or to give it its full name, the “Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders” is a late, though still fairly classic, example of Soviet Brutalist architecture, located in Victory Park on the left side of the Daugava River.

Central Market – Riga

One of the things I most enjoy doing in any place I am is visiting as many local markets as I can fit in. In Riga I managed to get to two – Central Market and the much smaller though no less interesting Latgale Market – a Russian flea market not that far from Central.