Page 148 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

146  LA T VIA REGION B Y REGION

is video footage shot around
the barricades, showing people
installing huge blocks of
concrete to defend strategic
points, including the Interior
Ministry and TV Tower. Scenes
shot at night are punctuated
by gunfire and shouting.
A final room is dedicated to
the people who were killed
in Bastejkalns (see p154).

3 Museum of Rīga’s
History and
Impressive Cross-Vaulted Gallery of the Dome, Dome Cathedral Navigation
1 Dome Cathedral 19th-century stained glass. The Rīgas vēstures un kuğniecības muzejs
Doma baznīca woodwork of the 17th-century Palasta iela 4. Map 1 C4. Tel 6721
1358. Open May–Sep: 10am–5pm
pulpit is ornate, however, as is
Doma laukums 1. Map 1 C3. Tel 6722 the organ case, which is daily; Oct–Apr: 11am–5pm Wed–Sun.
7573. Open May–Sep: 9am–6pm daily Mannerist with Baroque and & 8 ∑ rigamuz.lv
(to 5pm Wed & Fri); Oct–Apr: 10am– Rococo additions. It is possible Founded in 1773, this museum
5pm daily. Closed for special events. to visit the Cross-Vaulted is the oldest in Rīga. Housed in
& 5 8am Mon–Sat; noon Sun.
∑ doms.lv Gallery of the Dome, a an impressive building with
Romanesque cloister and tiled stoves and stained-glass
Founded as St Mary’s in 1211 by courtyard, all year round. windows, it is also one of the
Bishop Albert von Buxhoevden, city’s most interesting and
the cathedral became one of 2 Museum of the varied museums. The exhibition
the city’s three seats of power on navigation stresses the
alongside the Town Hall and the Barricades of 1991 strong maritime history of the
castle. It gained its current 1991 Gada barikāžu muzejs city up until World War I, and
name from the German word includes several large model
Dom, meaning “cathedral”, dur- Krāmu iela 3. Map 1 C4. Tel 6721 3525. ships and material on Krišjānis
ing the Reformation. The cathe- Open 10am–5pm Mon–Fri. Valdemārs (see p195). Other
& donations. 8 ∑ barikades.lv
dral looks as if it has sunk, but in rooms cover everything from
fact the land around it has been prehistory to independence.
raised to keep out floodwater This museum recalls the pivotal Highlights from the Middle
from the Daugava river. days of January 1991 when the Ages include the Madonna on a
The largest place of worship people of Rīga took to the Crescent Moon, a sculpture of the
in the Baltic region, the streets, following the threat patroness of the Great Guild
cathedral has been altered over of direct presidential rule from dating from the late 15th
the years and its bulky structure Moscow and the stationing of century, which was taken to
exhibits a variety of styles. The Soviet tanks outside the Germany dur ing World War II,
altar alcove and the east wing Supreme Council in Vilnius. The and Big Kristaps, a large 16th-
crossing are Romanesque, with most fascinating of the exhibits century statue of St Christopher.
a cross-vaulted ceiling and rows
of semi-circular windows.
Simpler Neo-Gothic additions
are characterized by pointed
arches, large windows and
lierne vaulting, while the
eastern pediment and the
steeple are in an 18th-century
Baroque style. The portal was
added in the 19th century,
followed by an Art Nouveau
vestibule in the 20th century.
Most of the interior decor
was destroyed during the
Reformation, and it is now very
plain except for the tombs
of merchants and the Interior of the Museum of the Barricades of 1991
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp300–301 and pp320–22

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