Winter in Riga (3D)

The whole world complains about global warming and one of the greatest fears is that of snow disappearing.

Forever.

Before that can happen – although I don’t believe it will – it’s good to enjoy the party while it lasts. And where else if not in the north?

Riga is the capital of Latvia, a remarkable city in an otherwise unremarkable country, but that much can be said of the entile Baltic trio of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. All their respective capitals are UNESCO-listed, with plethora of historical building, well-preserved downtown that includes stone-paved roads, churches everywhere you see and colonial (mostly German and Russian) architecture.

The downtown in Riga is fairly sizable and in the very center you can find The Dome.

This Lutheran cathedral dedicated to Virgin Mary originates from 13th century, so it’s a mixture of some late romanesque, gothic, and baroque styles. Here’s the Christmas tree in detail (really juicy in 3D):

It’s situated on a square aptly named Dome square. Right across from it you will see the interwar building of Latvian Radio:

Apologies for somewhat lower quality; it was shot using my smartphone’s ultra-wide angle lens. Anyway, moving on to another Lutheran church, this time St. Peter’s with its imposing spire of 123 meters in height:

The church dates back to the 13^th century as well, however, the turret was rebuilt after it had been destroyed in World War II bombardment campaign.

The sheer dominance of the tower is only matched by the steep entry fee – €9 to go to the top.

Time to visit another denomination – this time the Catholic church of St. James. Since it’s fit snugly in a small square, right opposite Saeima (Latvian parliament), I can but offer interior shots:

Not even my ultra-wide lens can capture the church properly from outside, so here goes the altar:

Next is the Town hall square. This used to be lined with brutalist concrete architecture of socialist realism, but not anymore. Early ’90s, Rigans decided to do away with Soviet heritage and rebuilt the former Town hall anew:

Real damn pretty, if you ask me. Apologies for my 3D setup (only single camera), which messes up the flags, and I couldn’t get a clear shot with no moving objects (people) present.

The square is adorned with another lovely Christmas tree. Yay!

Behind the tree you can see so-called House of the Blackheads. This was also built in the 1990s and if anything can be called eclectic style, then this is it:

Hidden behind the mound of snow, it reminds me of Brabantine Gothic with ornamental front gables of German provenance. On the façade you can notice Saint George (far right corner) along with Greek gods (the back, right-hand side gable) and African saints or heroes, I believe (left corner). In the following snapshot, you can also see St. Peter’s tower in the background:

The history of the building reaches deep into the Medieval ages and if the historical accounts hold, this place (or the one similarly named in Tallin, Estonia) holds the clue to the origin of Christmas tree. However, I don’t want to make this unnecessary long, so I’ll stop right here and leave the rest for the next part.