Today, we will return to Riga, and let me tell you that there is a lot on our to do list. I will take you to The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ, then we will go on a boat trip and we will finish our day with an evening walk in Riga. Let's start!
We saw The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ on our first walk in Riga. We didn't come closer as we were walking towards the old town, but I knew that we will come back. The Cathedral is only about 5-10 minutes walk from our hotel, and I was sure that there would be an opportunity to return.
The Cathedral is situated in the middle of The Esplanāde Park. This park dates back to the 12th century, but it served another purpose at that time. There was a hill which was used as a point of enemies attacks on the area, and therefore it was later removed to protect the city. It was converted into a park in 1901. Park
Today, it's a place of leisure where you find playgrounds, many benches and endless lawns where you can lay down and relax. There are also multiple sculptures, The Latvian Art Academy and The National Art Museum. We saw some students laying on the grass and reading, and I wanted to do it too, but we had another plans 🙂
The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ is proudly towering above the park. Its golden cupola is dominating the area.
My family is half Catholic (mom's side) and half Orthodox (dad's side). This was cool when I was in school as we had more holidays than other kids. There is nothing better than double Christmas (it means double presents of course) 🙂 Orthodox Christmas is celebrated at the beginning of January.
There were also various customs that I learned and practiced as my both grandmas took care of that, and I think this is when my fascination with religious constructions started. I do not practice most of the customs anymore, but I still enjoy visiting the churches and other religious buildings. We have many old wooden churches in my region, but I have never been to an Orthodox Cathedral, so I was excited to visit this one. I saw the cathedrals in Kiev and Moscow, but sadly I was on business trips and didn't have enough time to go inside.
The first thing that I noticed was that there was a high fence around the Cathedral's area. I have never seen a fence around a Catholic church, but I realized that all wooden churches are surrounded by a fence too, so it's probably to protect it against theft. Another obvious things was its perfectly maintained lawn and spotless façade. My excitement was growing with every step!
The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ was built in the second half of the 19th century with the blessing of the Russian Tsar Alexander II. It has only short but a turbulent history as it survived three wars (World War I and II, and civil war in October 1919)
At the beginning of the World War I, all valuable items were evacuated from the Cathedral which was a very wise decision as the Germans turned it in 1917 into a Lutheran temple and destroyed the decoration of the Cathedral.
Luckily, only a few years later, the Orthodox parish began to restore the Cathedral. But this was not the last hit as it was damaged during artillery shelling at the end of 1919. And another restoration began...
After the World War II, it finally served its original purpose of place of worship until it was turned into a planetarium by the Soviet regime. Since 1992, services have been held here again. Cathedral
As I mentioned, short but turbulent history 🙂
The Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ is the largest Orthodox church in Riga. Today, it is one of the symbols of the city which is not surprising when you look at this stunning façade and its five gilded cupolas.
Before you enter the Cathedral you need to realize that it is an active place of worship and there are rules to be followed. You should dress appropriately and behave accordingly.
Women should cover their hair before entering. There is a small kiosk where you can lend or buy a headscarf. I noticed that not everyone was following this rule, but I got the headscarf out of respect.
You can also donate some money for maintenance of the Cathedral as well as buy some religious items. It is not allowed to take photos or videos, but I asked if I could take a couple of photos and they allowed me to take a few. I didn't take many as there were a few people praying and I didn't want to disturb them.
Let's go inside!
The Cathedral is richly decorated. There is not one small spot which would not be decorated with an ornament or a painting. However, it is all done in harmony. It's a place where you want to sit down and look around you in awe. There is so much gold!
There is a beautiful iconostasis of the main altar in the center of the Cathedral. This is one of the priceless treasures in the Cathedral. On the left side there is an icon of the Blessed Mary Virgin.
Apparently, 3000 people can attend a service in the Cathedral but I have no idea how as it didn't look so big to me.
Let's look around...
We spent about 30 minutes in the Cathedral, and then we left as we were told that a service was about to start. We were not sad to leave because we still had other plans for the day.
From the Esplanāde Park we walked in the direction of Bastejkalna Park to the canal as we wanted to go on a tour of Riga by one of the sightseeing boats. We chose a historical boat called Darling. We paid 18 EUR per person and boarded the boat. The tour takes about 50 minutes and it leads you through the canal to the river Daugava and then back to the old town.
It was a lovely sunny day. Little did I know that it will be windy and wild on the river. I don't enjoy being on a boat as I'm not a good swimmer, so this experience really took me out of my comfort zone.
Our captain was a funny guy who spoke English and made many anecdotes about Riga and his driving style. The recording was also in English and when there was no information provided we were listening to music (or to our captain making jokes). We learned a lot about Riga.
We passed by The Freedom Monument which is a memorial honoring soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence.
Then we approached The Latvian National Opera which looks very much like any other European theater. This guy was always in my view and I was not able to take a photo without him, so here he is 🙂 I think that he is still somehow anonymous as you can only see his profile.
Before approaching the river we passed by The Riga Central Market. This is the largest market and bazaar in Europe. It was built from 1924 to 1930 and it is even included in UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Around 100 000 people visit this colorful food market every day!
And we reached the river! You might think that it looks calm but for someone as scared as me it was wild and the boat was moving from one side to another. At times I was afraid I would fall out, so I closed the window 🙂 I know I might have overreacted, but water activities are really not for me.
In the back we can see The Riga Radio and TV Tower.
Here we see the Stalinist Palace of Science in Riga. It's one of three Soviet era skyscrapers cousins. Another two are in Warsaw and Prague.
The river is much bigger than I expected.
On the opposite side of the old town is the rural area of Riga. There are new residential areas with apartment buildings and houses for young families.
We are coming closer to the old town. Here we can see church towers of The Riga Dome Cathedral and St. John's Church.
We passed under The Railway Bridge which was constructed more than 100 years ago.
Stone bridge is much younger. It was built in 1955 and it used to be called the October bridge in the past. It leads you directly to the old town.
On the right we have The Dome Cathedral and on the left The Riga Castle.
We reached the port before turning right and going back to the old town...
Here we are! Our tour is almost at the end...
We got a discount voucher for our next trip, said our goodbyes and left the boat. On the way to the old town we stopped by The Love Bridge. It's a tiny version of The Pont des Arts in Paris 🙂
We had a busy day and didn't have time for lunch, so we took a break and enjoyed a delicious dinner. Before going back to the hotel, we went for a walk to enjoy Riga at night too.
It was a calm evening and there were only a few people around.
The historical buildings are lighten up and some of them look actually better than during the day.
There are many charming corners around the city.
We didn't manage to see The Latvian National Opera during the day, so we came to see it at night.
On the way back to the hotel we crossed through the Bastejkalna Park...
There were colorful lights under the bridge. The lights were changing every few minutes...
And I was finally able to take a picture of The Freedom Monument with no people!
And the last bridge to cross before coming to our hotel...
We had another great day in Riga and there were two more days to spend in Latvia. We will spend these two days in the countryside and I can't wait to take you with me.
Thank you for reading!
Cheers, Martina