Cities of Latvia

Cities of Latvia: Riga, Liepāja, Daugavpils and more

Cities: Introduction


The cities of Latvia

There are three tiers of Latvia’s cities.


The main square of Riga Old Town
The main square of Riga Old Town. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.




Festival building of Karosta






Districts and buildings


Jelgava palace


Part of art noveau facade near Albet street
Part of Art Noveau facade in Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


An abandoned villa



Lutheran and Catholic churches at the religious center of Daugavpils


Riga: Introduction



Alberta street in Centrs district of Riga


The most famous square of Riga Old Town


Riga is divided by geographic features into:





Wooden 19th century apartment buildings in Pardaugava




Soldiers memorial in Riga


Daugavpils (pop. 93 000) is Latvia’s second largest city and the main metropolis of Latgale (Eastern Latvia).

Uniquely, ethnic Latvians make up only 20% of the population here, making the city seem distant and disloyal to many Latvians. Russian is the lingua franca of Daugavpils. While the city is ethnically diverse (Russians – 54%, Poles – 14%, Belarusians – 7%, Ukrainians – 2%) the Soviet Russification drive has ensured that even to most non-Russian locals Russian is also the native tongue.

Skyline of Daugavpils
Skyline of Daugavpils with churches of various ethnicities and denominations visible. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Daugavpils became a large city after Russian Empire has developed a massive fortress here (1810-1876) as well as laid primary Saint Petersburg-Warsaw road (1834) and railroad (1860) through the city. While the regular Downtown street grid dates to that era of rapid growth, many of the buildings are newer as the city was devastated during World War 2 and subsequent Soviet regime.

A typical straight street in Daugavpils downtown
A typical straight street in Daugavpils downtown. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Daugavpils Downtown is where the shopping, restaurants, and nightlife are concentrated, but the most iconic districts lie beyond it. These are the Fortress (Cietoksnis), which is now inhabited, and the Churches Hill area where churches of 4 Christian denominations stand side by side, signifying Daugavpils’s and Latgale’s multi-religious history. The nearby Varšavas street has some pretty villas that miraculously survived World War 2 bombings.

Daugavpils fortress entrance
Daugavpils fortress entrance. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Other parts of Daugavpils are the off-the-beaten-path suburb of Grīva beyond the river that still retains some 19th century atmosphere and the mostly Soviet and post-Soviet New Daugavpils in the east.

While Daugavpils is somewhat infamous as poor, these days it looks much better than it did a decade ago.

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Daugavpils Downtown

Daugavpils downtown of straight 19th century streets may be too much altered by Soviet rebuilding drive to retain that old charm it must have had, but it is nevertheless the center of the city.

A grand Stalinist Soviet cinema, now a nightclub
A grand Stalinist Soviet cinema, now a nightclub. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Finding shopping, nightlife and accommodation opportunities is the easiest here, and access to most sights beyond downtown is also trivial. Daugavpils train and bus stations are both located in the downtown. Unlike many Western cities, the main malls of Daugavpils are right at its center.

A mall in downtown Daugavpils
A mall in downtown Daugavpils. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

While many old buildings have been demolished and replaced by nondescript Soviet parks or boring new edifices, many still remain to be found while exploring Daugavpils streets. The city is especially famous for its red brick edifices where bricks are formed into ornaments to beautify facades.

Elaborate red brick building in Daugavpils downtown
Elaborate red brick building in Daugavpils downtown. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The heart of Downtown Daugavpils is the Unity Square which hosts an art deco Unity House (1937; a project of interwar Latvia), the theater and a Latvian home museum of pre-modern handicrafts.

Unity House
Unity House, still housing all the main cultural institutions of Daugavpils: theater, concert hall, library and now also tourist information. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Rigas Street, the main pedestrianized street of Daugavpils connects Unity Square to train station, offering some old facades.

Riga pedestrian street in Daugavpils
Riga pedestrian street. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Downtown Daugavpils also have multiple houses of worship from the pre-WW2 era, though they are small as the city used to be religiously fragmented. These are the St. Peter Catholic Church (1934) and Synagogue (1850). The Russian Orthodox church has been imploded by the Soviets in 1969 and only a small chapel was rebuilt in its place after independence.

St. Peter Catholic church
St. Peter Catholic Church modeled after the St. Peter Basilica in Rome, with a colonnaded circular square in front (however, it is so small it looks more of a chapel than parish church). ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Two main parks of downtown Daugavpils are the Dubrovin park (laid in the 19th century and named after the mayor of the time) and Central Park (a larger one that includes sports facilities and an ice hockey hall nearby). Dubrovin park has a fountain, an old towered firefighters building and a Soviet WW2 memorial which is still welcome by primarily Russian Daugavpils residents.

World War 2 memorial in Dubrovin park
World War 2 memorial in Dubrovin park. 1944 is the date of Soviet re-occupation of Daugavpils, a tragedy to Latvians yet viewed with ethnic pride by Russians. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Daugavpils downtown also hosts a regional museum offering information on local fauna and cultural history,

To the south Daugavpils Downtown is limited by a 6 km long dike which safeguards the city from Daugava floods, a 19th-century engineering marvel.

Dike of Daugavpils
Dike of Daugavpils. It is higher than both Daugava and the homes beyond it. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Churches hill and Varšavas street

Located just north of Downtown, Church Hill and Varšavas street had some of their iconic buildings spared of (post-)WW2 destruction.

Surviving old villa in Varšavas street
Old building in Varšavas street (now a Polish consulate helping the city’s massive Polish minority). ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The Church Hill is crowned by historic houses of worship four different Christian denominations that stand side by side, signifying the multireligiousness of both Daugavpils and Latgale.

Russian Orthodox Cathedral of SS Boris and Gleb on the Churches hill
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of SS Boris and Gleb on the Churches hill. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The churches are Lutheran Cathedral (1893), Roman Catholic Church of Blessed Virgin Mary (1905), SS Boris and Gleb Russian Orthodox Cathedral (1905; once a garrison church), Old Believer Church (1928).

Lutheran and Catholic churches at the religious center of Daugavpils
Lutheran and Catholic churches at the religious center of Daugavpils. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Nearby Varšavas street hosts multiple 19th-century villas and a lead shot factory with period technology saved by Soviet economic backwardness and now converted into a tourist-oriented place of industrial heritage, with regular guided excursions available every day.

A lead shot machine in Daugavpils
One of the outdated machines still used for lead shot production in Daugavpils. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The factory still uses its Lead shot tower, where pieces of lead are thrown from above in order to attain a perfect form because of gravity before hitting the ground. Back in the 19th century, this was a commonplace lead shot production but it seems like out of this world these days.

Varšavas street with lead shot tower
Varšavas street with the lead shot tower. A massive effort was needed to wash its interior from metal pollution before opening up for tourists. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Between the churches and lead shot factory Varšavas street hosts a Russian culture center where information about various aspects of Daugavpils Russian culture are presented (Othodox and Old Believer faiths, Daugavpils fortress history).

Daugavpils Fortress (Cietoksnis)

The Imperial Russian fortress (Cietoksnis) is a unique part of Daugavpils. It is essentially a residential district entirely surrounded by 19th-century fortifications, walls, and gates.

Nikolai entrance to the Daugavpils fortress
Nicholas entrance to the Daugavpils fortress, adorned by a Russian eagle. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Commissioned after Napoleon’s invasions (1810) and expanded until 1878 the star fortress the importance of fortress went beyond just defending Russia from Western invasions. As Daugavpils was on both the road and railroad from Saint Petersburg to European capitals, the Fortress was also used by the Russian czars to spend a night.

Currently abandoned building of Daugavpils Fortress
Currently abandoned building of Daugavpils Fortress. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The former glory is somewhat ruined as the obsolete fortress was turned into apartment blocks. Many original buildings remain (some are abandoned), but Soviets also constructed their own plain apartment blocks in-between, which are no less shabby.

Lines of old fortress buildings converted into apartment blocks
Lines of old fortress buildings converted into apartment blocks. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Fortifications themselves are of interest – they may be ascended. The Nicholas gate was restored, once again adorned by the Russian coat of arms.

Arsenal building of Cietokšnis has recently been converted into Mark Rothko art museum. This Jewish abstract painter was born in pre-WW1 Daugavpils. However, the overpriced museum hosts merely a few of his works with the rest of largely empty halls dedicated to his life story or temporary (non-Rothko) exhibits.

Fortress building that now houses Mark Rothko art center
The fortress building that currently houses Mark Rothko art center. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Other interesting locations include the Daugavpils fortress information center (near Mark Rothko museum) in a former Water Tower building, the buildings at the main park which includes former Fortress Commander office and a military hospital as well as the gates. Multiple monuments and graves exist in the area for warlords of various nationalities, however, they are not architecturally appealing.

Cietoksnis (Fortress) is located a couple kilometers west of downtown and may be accessed by bus.

A fortress cemetery located some 2 km northwest of the fortress is difficult to reach without a car or a longer hike. Few gravestones there are elaborate fortress era ones (with many new civilian burials and a section for WW2 Soviet soldiers). However, the cemetery is worth a visit primarily for its small Orthodox church of St. Alexander Nevskiy (1897), which boasts one of the most ornamental wooden facades in Latvia.

Daugavpils Fortress cemetery church of St. Alexander Nevskiy
Daugavpils Fortress cemetery church of St. Alexander Nevskiy. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.




Picturesque buildings in Liepāja Old Town
Picturesque buildings in the Old Liepāja. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.



Typical wooden building of Old Liepāja
Typical wooden building of Old Liepāja. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.



Karosta prison in Liepāja
Karosta prison. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Old Liepāja (Southern Liepāja)


Holy Trinity Lutheran Cathedral in Liepāja
Holy Trinity Lutheran Cathedral. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Liepāja gymnasium, one of the industrial era buildings


Liepāja German villa that was turned in city museum


New Liepāja (Central Liepāja)



Port warehouses of the New Liepāja as visible from the Esplanade



Karosta of Liepāja



Russian Orthodox Naval Cathedral of Liepāja


Festival building of Karosta
Festival building of Karosta. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Karosta prison exhibits in Liepāja
Karosta prison exhibits. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Former pigeon mail tower at Karosta
Former pigeon mail tower at Karosta. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.





Old wooden homes in Grīva
Old wooden homes in Grīva . ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Catholic Church of Blessed Virgin Mary
Catholic Church of Blessed Virgin Mary. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


A small part of Grīva Fortress
A small part of Grīva Fortress. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


New Daugavpils

New Daugavpils (east of the city) consists of districts mostly built up by Soviet apartment blocks and post-Soviet individual homes. While pretty much devoid of what to do in Soviet times, the districts have received new churches, supermarkets and else after independence. Nevertheless, people typically go downtown to satisfy their more elaborate needs. In fact, all the Daugavpils tram lines generally link eastern districts to downtown.

New Daugavpils is essentially made of multiple parts, three of them having the word “New” in their names.

Jaunbūve (New buildings) is the main part, consisting of Soviet apartment blocks. A major place of entertainment there is Lokomotiv stadium where the local speedway team plays its home games. Having some 10 thousand seats it is one of largest speedway-specific stadiums in Europe and has hosted world championship events.

Speedway event in Lokomotiv stadium
Speedway event in Lokomotiv stadium. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Forštate (The Suburb) beyond the railway consists of two areas. Old Suburb (Veca Forštate) mostly an area of private residential homes. Some are old and small, others are the “built for generations style” of the early 1990s. New Suburb (Jauna Forštate) consists of Soviet apartment blocks

Old and new private homes with post-independence church in the New Suburb
Old and new private homes with post-independence church in the New Suburb. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Jaunie Stropi (New hives) is an upscale area next to a large Stropu Lake. Many buildings there are large edifices owned by Latvian nouveau-riche, surrounded by a forest. beaches are available, though they are pretty derelict and mainly used by locals.

Prestigious lakeside home in Jaunie Stropi
Prestigious lakeside home in Jaunie Stropi. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.




A former spa in Jūrmala beach
A former spa in Jūrmala beach. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.




People enjoying summer in a main street of Majori village




Main Jomas street out of season
Main Jomas street out of season. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.




Train stattion near Lielupe in Majori
Train stattion near Lielupe in Majori. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Jūrmala is especially popular among Russian tourists.


Old Town of Riga (Vecrīga)

In the heart of Medieval Riga, the labyrinthine pedestrianized streets of Old Town are still outflanked by massive church spires and guild houses. They date to the Middle Ages when Old Riga was a place of peaceful religion and trade, independent of nearby militarized states.

Livu squre in Riga
Livu squre in Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Old Riga is surrounded by a moat-like „City canal“ and a park on three sides, with Center district lying beyond them. The Canal has replaced city wall. On the West side Old Riga faces the mighty Daugava estuary. While freight vessels are now anchored closer to the sea, the views of Riga Old Town are still arguably the most magnificent from an embankment on the opposite shore of Daugava.

Riga Old Town from the opposite side of Daugava
The multireligious spires of Riga Old Town from the opposite side of Daugava. Left -to-right: Russian Orthodox, Anglican, Catholic and Lutheran. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The life in Riga Old Town revolves around three squares, each of them having a very different atmosphere.

City Hall square area (South)

The serene Rātslaukums (City Hall square) is dominated by a magnificient facade Black Hat house, one of many medieval merchant guilds. The particular house is new however, faithfully rebuilt after independence. Like some other gems of Old Riga it was destroyed by the Soviets – and contemporary Rigans try to reassert that lost history. Likewise, the once-destroyed City Hall was rebuilt.

Black Head House in Riga
Black Head House in Riga at night during Christmas period, with Christmas tree (allegedly a Rigan invention) on the right. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The atmosphere of the square is however still marred by a bleak black Soviet building that now serves as the Museum of Latvian occupation (originally built to display information about Latvian Red Riflemen).

City Hall square itself is rather devoid of life, lacking cafes and entertainment. Those are plentiful in surrounding streets. One home hosts Mecendorf museum that presents mural-clad interiors of an 18th century rich Baltic German’s home (less impressive than it sounds).

Mecendorf House in Riga, a survivor from the oldest times among somewhat newer buildings
Mecendorf House in Riga, a survivor from the oldest times among somewhat newer buildings. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Rising over the entire area is Ss. Peter’s church tower. Its multi-tiered wooden crown, burnt down and rebuilt, now serves as a good vantage point over the city (72 meters, elevator available).

First floor of St. Peter church
First floor of St. Peter church. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Cathedral square area (North)

Cathedral square (Doma laukums) is the most authentic and stunning square of Old Riga.

Impressive buildings at Cathedral square
Impressive buildings at Cathedral square. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The streets around it host many stately red-brick churches of various denominations, once frequented by foreign merchants and local craftsmen. After all, Riga was part of the Hanseatic trading league in the Medieval era, which has spanned as far west as England. So the city even has a St. Savior Anglican church (current building dates to 1857). A Catholic Our Lady of Sorrows church (1785) is nearby.

Our lady of sorrows Catholic church
Our lady of sorrows Catholic church. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Cathedral square itself is dominated by a massive Lutheran Cathedral (1211 with many modifications). The Catholic minority have their own smaller St. James Cathedral (1225). Both churches would be passed from Lutherans to Catholics and back during history and their ownership was even contested in two Latvia-wide referendums.

Lutheran Cathedral of Riga at Cathedral square
Lutheran Cathedral of Riga at Cathedral square. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Although Old Riga is some 800 years old, most residential buildings are in fact newer (having replaced their forerunners during the 19th century boom). Therefore “Three Brothers” homes, the earliest dating to 15th century, are especially famous.

Three Brothers
Three Brothers. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The northwestern side of Riga Old Town hosts a crusader castle (heavily rebuilt into palace since) and the sole surviving fortifications such as the Gunpowder tower (now a war museum). Latvian parliament and National theater are also located nearby.

Gunpowder tower of Riga
Gunpowder tower of Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

The political importance of the area made it a target of Soviet military attack in 1991, when Soviets attempted to quash the restored Latvian independence. Latvians hastily built barricades to prevent tanks from coming and would spend days waiting around makeshif fires to keep warmth. Upcoming days resulted in some deaths but Latvia would not fall. These heroic times when armless struggle toppled the struggling Soviet regime are reminded by a small-but-quite-ingenious Barricades museum.

A model of Riga Cathedral square in 1991 at the Barricades museum
A model of Riga Cathedral square in 1991 at the Barricades museum. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Livu square area (East)

Unlike its two cousins, Livu square is not historic: it was created by Soviets who leveled historic neighborhoods that stood in its place.

However, hedonistic visitors seem to care little about it, spending time in Livu Square’s many open-air cafes as well as restaurants and nightclubs of surrounding streets.

A square in Riga
A square with restaurant on the right. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Two magnificent guild halls that survived Soviet occupation help to forget the square’s origin. Nearby House of cat has a curious story: the small cat sculpture had its backside turned at the guilds after the house’s Latvian owner was not admitted to join them by German peers (but it was turned around after a court reversed its decision).

Guild halls in Riga
Guild halls in Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

While Livu square area is the leisure center of Old Town (and Old Town itself – the hub of Riga), noisy entertainment and high prices have almost evicted people from the district. Merely 3 000 Rigans continue to live in the Old Town, although some 23 000 work in the area.

Centrs (Center) of Riga

The Center of Riga is a living monument to the city‘s golden age of the late 19th century and early 20th century. At that time industrialization had made Riga one of the 5 largest cities of the massive Russian Empire and among the great European metropolises.

The population increased to some 600 000 and construction crews worked ceaselessly to build ever-prettier 6-floored edifices. Then-popular art nouveau style would prevail, making Riga one of the best cities to witness this type of architecture, itself an attempt to create a new style in the era when most other architects just copied the past.

Part of art noveau facade in Alberta street
A fragment of Art Nouveau facade near Alberta street. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Spanning the whole Centrs and continuing to eastern suburbs, Brīvības (Freedom) street is the main artery of both the district and Riga as a whole. It has some of the most massive turn-of-the-20th-century buildings.

A fragment of Brīvības street
A fragment of Brīvības street with a mid-19th century St. Gertrude Old Church (center), turn-of-the-century art nouveau apartment building (right) and a post-independence office block (left visible. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

However, the title of the prettiest art nouveau street is usually awarded to a much smaller Alberta street where famous architect Eisenstein created his masterpieces. Nearby Art nouveau museum allows catching a glimpse of opulent art nouveau staircase and apartment interior. Despite the Soviet destruction, these are still quite common in the Center of Riga (although most are only accessible to residents and their guests).

Art nouveau staircase interior leading to Riga art nouveau museum
Art nouveau staircase interior leading to Riga art nouveau museum. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Alberta street is in the northern reaches of Centrs, beyond the Krišjāņa Valdemāra street which has some of Riga’s most important late 19th century public buildings, including the National theater and what is now the Museum of (Latvian) fine arts. These have been built imitating historical styles rather than Art Nouveau.

Neo-Baroque National Theater of Riga
Baroque-inspired National Theater of Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Riga Centrs is anchored on straight wide streets that emit „big city feeling“. At the time of its inception, three different ethnicities vied for power over Riga and Latvia.

A fragment of a facade in Riga
A fragment of a facade in Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

There were German „Baltic barons“, for centuries the elite of the city who paid the bills for many of its greatest buildings. Gothic revival St. Gertrude Old church (1869) was built and belonged to the community.

A typical long straight street of Riga Centrs, surrounded by large old buildings
A typical long straight street of Riga Centrs, surrounded by large old buildings. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

There were Russians, since 1710 the political leaders, their role still visible in the massive Neo-Byzanthine Russian Orthodox Nativity Cathedral (1883) that stands in the district’s largest park Esplanade and earlier neoclassical St. Alexander Nevskiy church (1825).

Nativity Cathedral in Riga
Nativity Cathedral in Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

And there were Latvians, for millennia the majority of surrounding villages, who began migrating to industrialized Riga in their hundreds of thousands, asserting the city as their future capital and dwarfing the other communities. Their national awakening is reminded by places such as Krišjānis Barons museum – this was the Latvian who collected long-neglected Latvian folksongs that later became the essence of the nation. Like many of Riga Center house-museums, it is interesting both for the personality that lived there and for its turn-of-the-century interior.

Church in Riga Centrs
Brīvības street with St. Gertrude New church in Riga Centrs built by Latvian ex-parishioners of St. Gertrude Old church. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Additionally, Latvian architects would commonly add details inspired by Latvian culture and mythology to their contraptions (patterns and even sculptures), leading to the creation of unique distinctive sub-type of “Latvian national romantic art nouveau“.


After Latvia achieved its independence in 1918, Centrs of Riga became its political hub. In a symbolic place between Centrs and Old Town the Freedom statue was erected, symbolizing the unity of Latvia. Miraculously escaping Soviet demolition it remains *the* national symbol.

Freedom monument between Center and Old Town of Riga
Freedom monument between Center and Old Town of Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

During the occupations, Centrs served as a base for anti-Latvian institutions such as KGB, whose former HQ was transformed into a KGB museum (entry free to the introduction area, but in order to visit the cells where Latvians were tortured and murdered a paid guided tour is needed).

KGB prison in Riga
The prison zone of KGB building in Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Eastern fringes of the Centrs, where the large buildings slowly give up place for the smaller wooden apartment blocks of the Eastern downtown, has been reborn as a rather artistic place. Miera street now hosts various studios, a large mural of Latvian song festivals has been created near the intersection of Talina and Krišjana Barona streets.

The mural of Latvian song festivals ir Central Riga
The mural of Latvian song festivals ir Central Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Total population of Centrs: 35 000, but some 100 000 work in offices there.

Eastern Downtown (Avoti, Grīziņkalns, Brasa)



A building in Grīziņkalns



A street in Grīziņkalns


Gas reservoirs of Riga
Gas reservoirs of Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral in Riga
Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral in Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Abandoned crypts in Brasa cemetery
Abandoned crypts in Brasa cemetery. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.


Total population: 46 000.

Northern Downtown (Skanste, Andrejsala)

Areas north of Riga Downtown have been relatively sparsely inhabited, even empty. As such they have been used for some modern developments that needed both space and a downtown location.

For example, Arena Riga (used for ice hockey, basketball and concerts), modern offices and flats have been constructed here.

New residential buildings around Riga Arena
New residential buildings around Riga Arena. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Western parts of the Northern Downtown have been used as the main port of Riga. While they are still used as such, less area is now needed, and some of the former port zones of Andrejsala have been converted into a small district of restaurants and clubs.

Total population: 6 000

Maskavas Suburb

Maskavas Suburb is the melting pot of Riga‘s different ethnicities. The district was developed in 19th century on the road to Moscow (hence the name). It is a mish-mash of large brick edifices and two floored wooden apartment buildings (together with art nouveau the reason of Riga‘s UNESCO inscription). Many are abandoned as Riga suffered a population decline, especially among its Russophone population.

Abandoned apartment building of ~1900 in Maskavas Suburb
Abandoned apartment building of ~1900 in Maskavas Suburb. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Despite the departure of some Russians after 1990, Latvians are still a minority in the Maskavas suburb. The district has houses of worship of 5 denominations.

Russian Old Believer Grebenščikova church and monastery with its golden dome is among the largest churches in the world of this Russian schismatic community which escaped the persecutions by taking refuge in Latvia.

Grebenščikova Old Believer monastery
Grebenščikova Old Believer monastery. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Jesus Heart Catholic church is Latvia‘s biggest wooden building. Neoclassical St. Alexander Nevskiy Russian Orthodox church (1825) is among Latvia’s oldest Orthodox churches.

Jesus Heart octagonal church
Jesus Heart octagonal church in the middle of traffic roundabout. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

There is also a ruined synagogue reminding of the time when Nazi Germany forced Riga‘s Jewry to live in the Maskavas suburb, eventually killing many of them (names of Latvians who helped to save some of the Jews are written in the synagogue).

Another famous sight is the Riga’s bazaar-like Central Market, established in 1930 in disused airship hangars.

Nearby Špikeri district reused old port warehouses for more upscale trade (though they are still quite empty).

Špikeri district of old port warehouses in Riga
Špikeri district of old port warehouses. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Soviets used Maskavas Suburb for the tallest building in Latvia. 108 m tall Latvian Academy of Sciences dates to 1961 the Stalinist policy of erecting massive buildings of Soviet historicist style in the capitals of Soviet Republics, dedicating them to the „glory of science“. While formally respected, science was heavily censored in the Soviet Union, with many of its achievements made secret or regarded as unworthy. In summer, it is possible to ascend to the top.

Academy of Sciences in Riga
Academy of Sciences in Riga. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

At 368 m Riga TV Tower is still the tallest structure in the Baltics and the entire European Union. Located in a Daugava island in front of Maskavas Suburb, it is not formally part of it but within an easy reach. While it had a panorama restaurant, the tower‘s pyramid-like form meant that the now-closed observatory is located merely at 93 m, leading to its unpopularity.

Riga TV tower rising above the Maskavas suburb
Riga TV tower rising above the Maskavas suburb. The picture was made from the Academy of Sciences observatory. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

More attractive is the nearby LIDO recreation center on the Daugava shores, famous primarily for its massive restaurant-canteen-bar, but also for a child-oriented funfair. One of the first legal post-Soviet Latvian businesses (started in 1987 when independence still seemed impossible) LIDO has a somewhat legendary status. When constructed in 1999 the Recreation center indeed felt like a miraculous addition to a Riga that still lacked malls and amusement opportunities. And while LIDO has since lost momentum and has been outflanked by other growth (much of it also adorning the shores of Daugava), it is still always full of Rigans.

Lido recreation centre with the iconic folly mill
LIDO recreation centre with the iconic folly mill (once LIDO owned specialized workshops to produce follies). ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Population: 32 000


The centre of 19th century Rigan industry, Sarkandaugava has many old buildings, both industrial and residential. There are many less inspiring Soviet additions as well. Extensive railways and a nearby section of Daugava river were the reason why industrial district had been developed here.

The main avenue is north-south Ganibu Dambis.

In an area close to pristine Mežaparks the 1936-1940 president of Latvia Kārlis Ulmanis had his small palace, known as Dauderi. Now it is a museum.

Dauderi palace in Riga
Dauderi palace. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Population: 20 000.


As Riga largely ceased to expand after World War 1, Teika is unique as the only neighborhood developed at the time of independent interwar Latvia.

VEF factory, just beyond the railroad ring, used to be crown gem of interwar Latvian industry. Located in some pretty buildings that look more like palace than factory (as well as more prosaic later edifices) VEF used to manufacture world‘s smallest pre-WW2 camera (Minox), radios, phones, even aircraft.

Historic buiildings of VEF factory
Historic buildings of VEF factory. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Unfortunately during the Soviet occupation technology lagged so far behind the West that VEF was unable to compete with Western goods after independence, folding in 1999. Currently the massive premises are rented out.

Further east by Brivibas street you may find extensive districts of interwar and postwar (mainly Stalinist) residentials.

Interwar residential homes in Teika
Interwar residential homes in Teika. ©Augustinas Žemaitis.

Total population: 30 000.

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