You are welcome to the Capital City of Latvia - Riga!
People tend to believe that the best months to visit Riga are from the sunny May till the autumn October. From one side it is completely true! But how colorful and harmonious can it be in wintertime!
Cities are like humans, each city has a face, a character, some peculiar habits??� Have you ever had the chance to walk the cobblestones streets of Riga in winter months? The Medieval churches and towers will greet you with the solemn white majesty in the air and you will get the impression that someone has covered the window sills of houses with white puffy pillows.
Riga is a Nordic city and winter is the right season to feel the Nordic soul. Only when it is freezing outside, you may evaluate the coziness of the local cafeterias, observe the romantic flickering of candles through the ice-flower covered windows, which are as if inviting the passaers by to come in and join for a moment.
Have you ever felt the specific warmth and tranquility inhaling the aroma of hot coffee after a long walk on a cold winter afternoon? It is like a passionate and burning kiss on the very first randezvous!
You are eager to see and feel all this beauty yourself? We welcome you to Riga!
About Riga.
There is something for everyone to see and to do while in Riga. This is one of the main advantages of Riga over other European or Baltic cities. Riga has the both the historic merchant past and the old world charm of the Nineteenth Century and has a look and feel somewhat like Paris. Some have even refereed to Riga as the "Paris of the north" ! To add even more charm, Riga has many great and relaxing city parks that are exciting during all seasons!
Riga is located along the Baltic Sea at the southern coast of the Gulf of Riga, on the Rigava coastal plain. The coastal plain is mostly flat, but inland to the east the land is hilly with forests and lakes. A total of 43%of the country is covered by forests, 10% consist of peat bogs, 2-3% of fresh water reservoirs, 40% is used for agriculture and 4% consist of towns, villages and roads. Raznas Lake is the largest in Latvia and the total number of lakes is 2.300. There are about 12.000 rivers in Latvia, but only 17 are longer than 100 km, the biggest being the River Daugava (1.020 km-the part that flows through the territory of Latvia is 365 km in length). The ports of Riga, Liepaja and Ventspils are ice free during winter.
The Old Riga (Vecriga) is a unique architectural ensemble combining diverse buildings and styles. This "stratagem" can be walked through in a quarter of an hour but one can also roam here until late in the evening. A foreigner who is here for the first time can even lose his way.
During ages the town of Riga surrounded by a stone wall has been developing in a restricted space. narrow winding street composed a complicated labyrinth. land plots were small and houses stood very close, so neighbors living across the street from each other could shake hands without leaving their homes. Now the narrowest street of Vecriga is a short segment of street between Jauniela and Tirgonu streets which has preserved since the XIII century. it has no pavements and two carts would not miss each other there.
Almost all the streets axisting currently in the Old Riga appeared by the beginning of the XVI century but some of them had no permanent names at that time. the ancient names of the streets indicate their inhabitants and tell about the history of the city.
Smilsu (Sand) Street had been the main street of Riga until the XVII century. it ran from the main town gate and Sand (Powder) Tower. though the street has lost its primary purpose it has retained its name.
Houses of merchants where one could buy goods that were not available even at the Market Square were situated on Tirgonu (Merchant) Street.
Some streets have lost their purpose and the fact of them being renamed was not noticed. So, Skunu (Barn) Street never had any barns or warehouses on it. First its name was Kurpju (Shoe) Street since shoe-makers lived there. But in everyday speech that relatively long name was pronounced somehow shorter what finally gave Skunu. Some streets have changed their names several times. Grecinieku (Sinner) Street was called the Street of the Rich in the XIV century. Several houses of rich merchants stood on that street not far from the Market Square. Once one of those merchants by the name of Herman Sundem was the richest. Therefore the street, the gate at its end, and the XV century tower were called after him. later the family name Sundem was changed by the common people into "Sunder" meaning "sinner".
Untilthe XVIII century almost every landlord had a small animal-farm. in summer the cattle was driven to the pasture along the so called Pasture Road. the memory of those times has retained in the name of the street Ganibu Dambis (Pasture Dike).
The city, which is famous not only for its more than 800 years history and cultural heritage, but also for its active business environment and entertainment opportunities. Riga is a modern, dynamic European city. It is one of the largest cities in the Baltic region. Riga was officially founded in 1201. The Riga City history is more than eight hundred years long, and it has an abundance of dramatic events stored in countless volumes of works and monuments, legends, songs, memoirs and tales.
Riga is also called the city of parks and gardens. The central part of the city is mostly occupied by commercial offices, banks, and other business building reflecting the hectic present day life and the tendencies of rapid city development.
Sounds good, doesn't it? So why not plan a little trip to Riga?
RentApartmentInRiga would be more than happy to help you with it!
Museums:
State Museum of Art
The collection of the State Museum of Art comprises 32,000 items making it the widest and most significant collection of visual art in the country. Nowadays there are two basic collections in the museum - Latvian Art Collection, and Foreign Art Collection.
Address: Kr. Valdemara 10 a
Museum of The history of Riga and Navigation
The Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation was founded on Nikolaus von Himsel's private collection in 1773 and now is considered to be one of the oldest museums in Europe.
Address: Palasta 4
Latvian Ethnographic Opera Art Museum
More than ninety authentic houses, farmsteads, windmills, wooden churches, fishermen's villages and other historic structures have been brought here from different regions of Latvia and represent the life of craftspeople, peasants and fishermen in the 16-20th centuries.
Address: Brivibas 440
Latvian War Museum
The Latvian War Museum was founded during World War I as the Latvian Riflemen's Museum. In 1919, the museum moved into the Powder tower, the only extant ancient tower of Riga's fortification wall.
Address: Smilšu 20
Latvian Museum of Natural History
This is one of the oldest museums in Latvia. Six exhibitions - Geology, Botany, Zoology and Entomology, Anthropology, Paleontology, and People and the Environment are hosted here.
Address: Kr. Barona 4
Riga Porcelain Museum
This is the only museum of porcelain in the Baltics featuring more than 6,000 exhibits. The basis of the collection forms the porcelain from famous Kuznetzov's factory that was opened in Riga in 1814. Exhibitions of the museum include exquisite luxurious china sets as well as inexpensive crockery.
Address: Kaleju 9/11
Latvian Museum of Photography
The collection of the museum contains transparencies, negatives, photographic equipment, documents and books. The permanent exposition "The Development of Photography in Latvia 1839-1941" illustrates the growth and development of photography in the country from the primitive techniques of the 19th century.
Address: Marstalju 8
