Page 149 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

RĪGA  147

4 St Saviour’s 6 Three Brothers collection of 16th–20th-century
Church Trīs brāļi European paintings and
19th- century paintings from
Anglikāņu baznīca 17–21 Mazā pils iela. Map 1 C3. China and Japan. There is also a
Anglikāņu iela 2a. Map 1 C3. Tel 6722 Museum of Architecture: Tel 6722 collection of porcelain and glass,
2259. 5 11am every Sun. Free 0779. Open 9am–6pm Mon, which features pieces from the
lunchtime con certs are held at 1pm 9am–5pm Tue–Thu, 9am–4pm Fri. Danish Royal Porcelain Factory.
every Wed. ∑ anglicanriga.lv & donations. ∑ archmuseum.lv
This row of buildings on Mazā
Funded by British merchants, pils Street known as the Three
this small Neo-Gothic church, Brothers covers three distinct
built in 1857, is the only architectural styles. Number 17,
Anglican place of worship in the with a stepped gable and
city. The English bricks were Gothic niches, dates from the
brought as ballast on trading 15th century and is Rīga’s oldest
ships, and the church was even residential building made out of
built on a layer of British soil. stone. The ears of wheat on the
During the Soviet era it was stones beside the door indicate
used by students as a disco and that it was owned by a baker.
recording studio, but since the The wooden interior of the
second independence in 1991 it 17th- century building at num-
has been reopened for worship, ber 19 now houses the small
and the congregation includes Museum of Architecture. The Entrance of St Jacob’s Cathedral, the seat of
English-speaking expatriates. green building at number 21 Rīga’s Catholic archbishop
was built in the 18th century.
8 St Jacob’s
5 Rīga Castle 7 Art Museum Rīga Cathedral
Rīgas pils Sv Jēkaba katedrāle
Bourse
Pils laukums 3. Map 1 C3. Klostera iela 1. Map 1 C3. Tel 6732
History Museum of Latvia: Tel 6722 Mākslas muzejs Rīgas Birža 6419. Open May–Sep: 9am–7pm;
1357. Open check website for details. Doma laukums 6. Map 1 C3. Tel 6722 Oct–Apr: 9am–6pm. 5 8am.
& 8 ∑ history-museum.lv 3434. Open 10am–6pm Tue–Sun (to Sited outside the old city walls,
8pm Fri). ∑ rigasbirza.lv
St Jacob’s was built in 1225 to
The city’s original Livonian This impressive building, built in serve the surrounding villages.
Order castle was destroyed the ornate Venetian Renaissance The church was renowned for
by Rīga’s citizens during a war style in 1856, was once one of having its bell not in the Gothic
against the Order lasting from the city’s most elegant edifices. steeple but hanging from a
1297 to 1330. After losing, the However, years of neglect and a cupola, which is still visible on
townspeople were forced to fire in 1979 destroyed much of its the southern side although the
build a new castle on the beauty. After three years of bell has gone. It was rung to
present site just outside the city. renovation, it opened its doors in signal that an exe cution was
Continuing quarrels led the 2011 as the home of the new Art taking place in the city,
Master of the Order to leave Museum Rīga Bourse, which has although another story insists
the capital, but Rīga Castle was taken over the collection of the that it was heard when unfaithful
destroyed by the citizens once Foreign Art Museum once women passed by the church.
more in 1484. Again they were housed in Rīga Castle. The Today, the cathedral is the seat
defeated and the next castle the museum has an extensive of Rīga’s Catholic archbishop.
towns people were compelled
to build forms the core of the
current structure and was the
head quarters of the Livonian
Order until 1561.
As well as being the official
resi dence of Latvia’s president,
the buil ding houses the History
Museum of Latvia, which is
currently closed. The castle was
damaged during a fire in 2013;
The first phase of reconstruction,
covering the president’s quarters
finished in 2016. A second phase,
covering the museum, will not
be fully completed until 2024. Changing of the guard outside Rīga Castle

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