Rīga: Walking tour of the Old City

After check-in at the hotel, we had a short break to do washing, etc. before setting out to explore the medieval Hanseatic town of Riga, famous for its Art Nouveau buildings.

Rīga is more than 800 years old and medieval centre is UNESCO World Heritage listed. The city is also famous for its fascinating Art Nouveau architectural heritage: this is the largest collection of art nouveau architecture in Europe: a wonderland of buildings adorned with naiads, dryads and giants faces.

Some of the art nouveau area has been used for films by the Russians, such as Seventeen Moments of Spring, which was a 1973 Soviet twelve-part television series.

We walked through an area of bars, cafes and restaurants (and some pretty wasted people) to Riga's most famous Gothic church, St Peter's, thought to be about 800 years old. Its famous spire has been rebuilt three times in the same form since 1667, with its latest rebuild completed in 1973.

On my list was the House of the Blackheads (with a name like that, how could you resist?!). The House of the Blackheads was built in 1334 as a venue for meetings and banquets held by Riga’s various public organizations. The building was destroyed by bombs in World War II but was fully rebuilt in 1999.

What was interesting on today’s tour was the number of significant public buildings that have been rebuilt because they had been destroyed during WW2.

We passed Dome Cathedral aka Rīga Cathedral where we have a concert booked for tomorrow night.

I definitely had the House of Cats on my list - channelling Alison who announced her first pregnancy by phone call to us this morning. Very exciting news!!

The House of Cats is named for two black felines perched on the points of its towers. Not only did the beasts curse their first sculptor, he fatally fell while putting them up, but their purpose was to cause trouble. Roughly 100 years ago, the Latvian owner of the building was excluded from the powerful Big Guild across the road by its ethnocentric German occupants. He ordered the cats to be turned around, backside up, as an insult to his enemies. They were turned around after a lengthy court battle and he was eventually admitted to the Guild.

What we also learned was that the Latvian language has more in common with Lithuanian than with Estonian. And that 40% of the population is Russian (and 40% is Latvian). I suspect that there is official peaceful co-existence between the two - and no more.

After the tour, we had a fabulous meal at a restaurant recommended by our guide, who had been very good. The 3 pavāru restorāns (Three Chefs Restaurant): Tam labam būs augt (‘The good must grow’) is owned and operated by three local celebrity chefs. And we celebrate Alison’s pregnancy. Yummy - our lovely desserts.


Then it’s a long wander back to our hotel.

Steps: 11000