MANCAMONDO

Northern Eastern
Europe

Republic of Latvia

Latvia

RIGA

Latvia, officially known as the Republic of Latvia (Latvian:
Latvijas Republika), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe.

Riga is a member of Eurocities,
the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC)
and Union of Capitals of the European Union (UCEU).

A sheltered natural harbour 15 km (9.3 mi) upriver from the mouth of the Daugava—the site of today's Riga—has been recorded, as Duna Urbs, as early as the 2nd century.
The river Daugava has been a trade route since antiquity, part of the Vikings' Dvina-Dnieper navigation route to Byzantium.

Gulf of Riga Baltic Sea june 2014

Riga was founded in 1201 and is a former Hanseatic League member. It is the capital and largest city of Latvia.

Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states and home to more than one third of Latvia's population.

The city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the river Daugava.

Riga's inhabitants occupied themselves mainly with fishing, animal husbandry,
and trading, later developing crafts (in bone, wood, amber, and iron).

Riga Latvia june 2014.

Vecrīga Riga Latvia june 2014

Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture.

Vecrīga ("Old Riga"), Riga Latvia, june 2014.

Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its
Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture.

Vecrīga ("Old Riga") is the historical center and a neighbourhood (as Vecpilsēta) of Riga,
located in the Central District on the east side of Daugava River.

Vecrīga ("Old Riga"), Riga Latvia, june 2014.

House of the Blackheads (Latvian: Melngalvju nams, German: Schwarzhäupterhaus) is a building situated in the old town of Riga.

The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood
of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried merchants, shipowners, and foreigners in Riga.

Major works were done in the early 17th century, adding most of the Mannerist ornamentation.

The sculptures were made by the workshop of August Volz.

Vecrīga ("Old Riga"), Riga Latvia, june 2014.

Artworks. Riga Latvia june 2014.

The Nativity of Christ Cathedral Riga june 2014

The Nativity of Christ Cathedral (Latvian: Kristus Piedzimšanas pareizticīgo katedrāle, Russian: Христорождественский кафедральный собор),
was built to a design by Nikolai Chagin and Robert Pflug in a Neo-Byzantine style between 1876 and 1883, with decorations made
by the firm of August Volz, during the period when the country was part of the Russian Empire.

It is the largest Orthodox cathedral in the Baltic provinces built with the blessing of the Russian Tsar Alexander II.

The Nativity of Christ Cathedral is renowned for its icons, some of which were painted by Vasili Vereshchagin.
During the First World War German troops occupied Riga and turned its largest Russian Orthodox cathedral into a Lutheran church.

In independent Latvia, the Nativity of Christ Cathedral once again became an Orthodox cathedral in 1921.

In the early 1960s, Soviet authorities closed down the cathedral and converted its building into a planetarium.
The cathedral has been restored since Latvia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.