Photoplaces: Latvia church

Holy Trinity Cathedral, Liepaja (Liepājas Svētās Trīsvienības katedrāle)

plkst. februāris 10, 2022 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Baroque cathedral of Liepaja (built in 18th Century) is especially famous for it's organ - with over 7000 pipes it was the largest mechanical organ in the world until 1968. The church has also impressive interior.

buildings church churches Latvia Latvia buildings Latvia church Northern Europe Riga

Old St. Gertrude church, Riga

plkst. februāris 06, 2022 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Detailed, intricate and beautiful Eclecticism/Neo-Gothic church with a 63 metres high tower in the streets junction of Riga 19/20th Century apartment quarters. The 19th Century-middle built church creates the strong visual impression of ascending to the sky, it even resembles a rocket ready to take off.

buildings church churches Latvia Latvia buildings Latvia church Northern Europe Riga

St Peter's church, Riga

plkst. decembris 21, 2021 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

St Peter's church is the highest vertical accent of Old Riga and one of the city's most recognizable landmarks. First mention of the St. Peter's Church is in records dating to 1209 and until nowadays it's side walls have been preserved from that time. Nowadays church tower is 123 metres high but interesting that back in 15th Century it was higher - 136 metres. The church suffered in fires both in 1st and 2nd World Wars, it was rebuilt in Soviet times and the current tower is from that time, just around 40 years old.

Baltic states building buildings church Latvia Latvia buildings Latvia church medieval Northern Europe Riga

Riga Cathedral (Dom church)

plkst. maijs 03, 2020 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

If Dan Brown would decide to write one if his cryptothrillers about Riga, then Riga Cathedral (Dom church) should be one of the main places to describe

MAIN FACTS
LOCATION	Latvia, Riga
ARCHITECTURE	Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque
BUILT	1211
ARCHITECT	?
RATING (9,2/10)

If Dan Brown would decide to write one if his cryptothrillers about Riga, then Riga Cathedral (Dom church) should be one of the main places to describe. It’s an impressive building with rich history and one of the most important architecture landmarks of Riga and Latvia.

Ever-changing and trendy

The cathedral was started to built just 10 years after the founding of Riga itself - in 1211. Bishop Albert intended to build this church as an impressive landmark of new territories where to spread Christianity, a church which wasn't seen before in this part of Europe.

To this day, Riga cathedral is the largest medieval church in the Baltic states, although it has gone through many changes throughout the years. Each age and each reconstruction has brought in new architecture elements in the cathedral's composition, making it the real mixture of styles. It was started to built as a classical Romanesque style church, later it got several excellent Gothic and Baroque style additions and even Art Nouveau boom didn’t pass the cathedral untouched - it's 20th Century-beginning entrance part, as well as one of the chapels is built in Art Nouveau style!
Once (in 14th Century) Riga Cathedral tower was even 140 metres high (now it's height is 93 metres). In 15th Century, it also looked different than today - the tower had a pyramid-shape spire with eight corners.

Damaged in the crossfires of confession wars

The church experienced it’s darkest times in 16th Century when Reformation supporters (Lutherans) thought that the best way to fight for their progressive ideas would be by destroying and demolishing the Catholic pr0perties... Dom church (like several other most important Riga churches) suffered heavily in the so-called “Icon riots” when many icons, paintings and other art values were destroyed. The riots were effective though - Lutherans got freedom of religion the next year and Lutheranism quickly spread in Latvia as the most popular form of Christianity (and religion). But the Dom cathedral (after the expulsion of Catholics from Riga) for a while stayed abandoned and in 1547 the church tower spire burned down in a fire. Afterwards Riga city bought the damaged church for 3,6 tonnes of silver and let Lutherans in. In 1595, the church was reconstructed and got a new tower. However, it wasn’t until 1775 when Riga Cathedral got it’s current, Baroque-looking tower spire - this reconstruction was done according to Riga city command.

Nowadays Riga Cathedral works as a Lutheran church, organizes worships on Sundays and also workdays, and special worships of a national scale on state events. It hosts also concerts (mostly classical, organ music, etc.). After 2006, when Cathedral was in so bad technical condition that it even got included in 100 world’s most endangered objects list by World Heritage Fund, it finally got carefully restored (works were done from 2011 to 2015).

buildings church Latvia Latvia buildings Latvia church

Apriki church

plkst. janvāris 01, 2019 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Apriki church, located in the "middle of nowhere" is one of the most surprising and must see churches in Latvia - very modest from outside, but splendid and extravagant from inside. It has Baroque and Rococo interiors with posh, unusual and also weird decors (like pine-apples), as well as wonderful ceiling paintings.

buildings church churches Jurmala Latvia Latvia buildings Latvia church

Dubulti Lutheran church

plkst. janvāris 01, 2019 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

One of the most unusual and beautiful churches in Latvia - the largest in Art Nouveau style - is Dubulti Lutheran church in Jurmala town. The rounded shapes of the church, Fachwerk elements on it's bell tower, flora motifs, mascarons and other Art Nouveau elements makes it very charming.

church Latvia Latvia building Latvia buildings Latvia church Liepaja Liepāja

St Nicholas Sea Cathedral, Liepaja (Sv. Nikolaja Jūras pareizticīgo katedrāle)

plkst. septembris 10, 2018 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

St Nicholas Sea Cathedral, Liepaja is the largest Orthodox cathedral in Latvia and the highest cupola-covered building in the Baltic states. It was built in 1901 after the example of 17th Century Byzantine Orthodox style, most of the money came from Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family wealth.

buildings church Latvia Latvia building Latvia buildings Latvia church orthodox church Riga

Christ's Birth Cathedral, Riga (Kristus Piedzimšanas katedrāle)

plkst. septembris 10, 2018 0

Travel Guide with beautiful photos and exciting descriptions of the most amazing and unique places in Baltic states and Europe.

Christ's Birth Orthodox church is one of four Orthodox cathedrals in Latvia, built at the end of 19th Century. As it's said back then it was the most expensive building in Riga. It luckily survived both World Wars but Soviet power closed and partially demolished it (sawn down the crucifixes, re-melted the bells) and in a symbolic move as a science victory over religion converted it into a planetarium.

Reconstruction of the building has been on-going since the end of 90ies. The church has now also gold-plated cupolas (at first, they were blue!).