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WEDRIGA-30 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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A fantastic meal in Latvia with a glass of beer, this one called Zelta. There is another Latvian beer which had a very good taste (even Malin liked it), but has a difficult name to remember !
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WEDRIGA-31 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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After the meal it started to rain so we went inside to take the dessert - 4 or more delicious pancakes with honey or jam dips
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WEDRIGA-32 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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This is the only tower remaining in the fortification wall surrounding Riga which nowadays most of it destroyed. The tower is called the powder tower. It was first mentioned in 1330 and it was originally called Smilsu Tornis (The Sand Tower), but from the 17th century when the gun powder had been kept in it, the Tower gained the name of Powder. Russian cannonballs that stuck in the tower during attacks in the 16-17th centuries can be seen. The diameter of this round tower is 14.3m, height -25.6m, the width of the walls reaches 3m.
Now the Latvian War Museum is situated there.
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WEDRIGA-33 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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The Small Guild Hall located beside the Philharmonic square. Restored recently in 1999-2000. There are the Great Guild and the Small Guild halls near to each other.
During the centuries of German economic domination, the guilds were Riga's power brokers. The Great Guild, dating from 1384, was the home of the merchants, while the Small Guild held the city's artisans. These slightly different audiences are reflected in the respective usage of the buildings today: while the Great Guild is home to the Philharmonic Orchestra, its smaller cousin hosts conferences and the occasional youth disco.
Craftsmen did not have such an importance influence to city's activities as merchants did, therefore even their Guild was called the Small, just opposite to Merchants' Guild. Small Guild was established in 1352, the number of corporations increased till 40 in the 18th century.
The building of Small Guild was built in the 14th century, big reconstructions took place in 1694 and 1743-1744. The present building of Small Guild was built in 1864-1866 by J.D.Felsko who completely destroyed the former building. Now a culture house "Guild" is situated there.
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WEDRIGA-34 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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Photo of a skillful painter drawing the church of Saint John. Got to know her because her hat flew away by wind.
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WEDRIGA-35 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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The church of Saint John in Old Riga, originally built in the 13th century for Bishop Albert and later given to the monks. It is now an amalgamation of gothic, renaissance and baroque styles as subsequent building has occurred through the centuries. More than 400 years services in Latvian have been held in this church.
Near the top of the wall (about even with the top of the windows) are 2 stone faces, supposedly the faces of 2 monks who were buried alive in the walls. The legend has it that in 1454 the monks chose to sacrifice themselves in this manner so the city would be stable and successful. They even wrote to the Pope, asking his permission. The Pope replied that this was not appropriate and should not occur.
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WEDRIGA-36 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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This is a statue in a square near St.Peter church (usually occupied by some market stands). It is said that it brings luck on touching it. The animals are a rooster, a cat, a dog and a pig from top to bottom. It is based on a child story with these animals being the main characters.
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WEDRIGA-37 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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A large building at the Dome's Cathedral square, nowadays used for stock exchange amongst other offices.
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WEDRIGA-38 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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Close up of architecture of the huge building shown in the photo above.
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WEDRIGA-39 :
Our Honeymoon part 3 - Riga, Latvia (Jul/05) |
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The Swedish houses painted in yellow are located in front of the fortification wall which was built by the ruling Swedes in 1698. Sadly, most of Riga's old-city wall was torn down in the 1800s to improve the flow of traffic in the economically booming city.
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