Latvia is the 2nd largest of the Baltic states in both population (about 1.8MM people vs 2.7MM people in Lithuania) and is only very slightly smaller in area (64.6K sqkm vs 65.3K sqkm for Lithuania). Riga is the capital city, with a population of about 630,000 people.
The main religion in Lithuania is Roman Catholicism; in Latvia the population is mainly Lutheran. Latvia was rules by various foreign powers for centuries, and only achieved independence in the 20th century. In the 2004, Latvia (along with Lithuania and Estonia) became members of NATO and the European Union. According to our guide, who is Latvian, the country actually celebrates two independence days. This first is November 18th (celebrating their 1918 independence from Russia) and the other is May 4th (celebrating their independence from the Soviet Union in 1990).
On Wednesday morning, our first excursion was a walking tour from the hotel to the Old Town (again!). First we passed the biggest Russian Orthodox church (Nativity of Christ Cathedral) in Riga, built around 1880 in Neo-Byzantine style. During the Soviet era, it was used as a planetarium and restaurant but it was returned to the Orthodox church after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was closed when we walked by, but I got a chance to go inside later in the day. No photos were allowed inside, but I managed to get one from just outside the doors, straight into the building.
Next on our way to Old Town, we walked by the Freedom Monument, honoring soldiers who were killed during the Latvian War of Independence from 1918-20. The monument is built of granite from Finland, travertine from Italy, and copper, and as you can see the base is a tall obelisk and is topped by a bronze figure of a woman holding three stars. The figure represents Mother Latvia and the stars represents the three historical Latvian regions. Our Latvian guide translated the words on the base as 'For My Homeland and Freedom'.
The Freedom Monument is a symbol of the national pride of Latvians. Again, according to our city walk guide, during the Latvian independence restoration (1991), the monument was guarded by Latvian volunteers to prevent it from being damaged by Soviet troops.
It's also a great landmark when walking around the city!
The rest of the walking tour covered multiple areas of the old town. I had a pretty bad headache, so I left the tour and just made my way around the area on my own, seeing as many places as I could stand as the temperature went up and up. By the end of the day, it was the hottest August 16th on record in Riga (temp of about 40C (approximately 94F).
Here are some of the pictures I took (a lot of it was beautiful) but I'm not sure I really know a lot of what is what.
One interesting doorway I went by, just the World Health Organization Latvian office:
I finally got back to my hotel room around 2:30, took a cool shower and two Tylenol and rested. I didn't want to miss the Organ Concert at the Dome Cathedral that evening (one of the optional excursions).
The Dome Cathedral (formally known as the Cathedral Church of St. Mary) is considered the oldest - and grandest - church in Latvia. The first stone was placed in 1211, with a mix of Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque styles. It's most striking feature (from the outside) is probably it's 40 meter high bell tower, the tallest structure in Riga. Inside, its most famous treasure is its Reiksts organ, with almost 7,000 pipes ranging from 13mm (the smallest) to 10m (the longest) and 124 stops.
However, in addition to seeing the cathedral and the organ (and mezzo-soprano) concert, we were also allowed to tour the former cloister gallery. The gallery is built in early Gothic style and is in three parts (118m with 29 cruciform arches). It is currently used as museum space.
The concert was glorious; mostly Latvian music as opposed to strictly religious music. I was so happy that my headache was gone by then!
Finally, just to end the day ....
One of the things I really liked about Riga was that there were parks and nature spread throughout the areas I was walking. And you all know how I feel about trees! And flowers! So here are just a few of the places I found to walk, sit, and shelter from the sun when it got to be too much.
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