Walking around in the Old Town of Rīga

Today’s post is about a walking tour in the Old Town of the Latvian capital Rīga. Everything is easily accessible on foot so no transportation has to be planned. I almost would that’s not really necessary to have a pre-planned route, because everything is so closely located and some streets can be explored spontaneously.

A good point to start is Latvia’s Statue of Liberty, well actually just the upper part is the statue, the entire structure is the Freedom Monument. The three stars held by a woman symbolize the three historical regions of Latvia (Kurzeme, Latgale and Vidzeme). The woman herself is just some woman and not related to a real person.

The Powder Tower can be found less than five minutes from the Freedom Monument. It used to be a storage place for gunpowder. Next to it is the free Latvian War Museum. You should also look up from time to time to see all the ornaments and sculptures on the houses.

If you’ve already pictures from Rīga then the House of the Blackheads on the town hall place probably isn’t new to you. It once was owned by merchants of mostly German origin. That why the sentences on the wall are written in German.

Right next to it is the free Museum of the Occupation of Latvia. To is left is the Peter’s church. But before going there a little detour should be made to see the Daugava river. From here it’s also possible to see the “Gaismas pils” – the palace of light. But in my opinion is doesn’t really look like a palace.

So, back to the Peter’s church which was built in the 13th century and has some really interesting sculptures above its entrance. As already mentioned, sometimes it’s worth to look up.

This was the last place from my little tour in the Old Town of Rīga. There are so many nice buildings, streets and churches that it was hard not to stuff it all in this post.

Bez panikas!