#riga Archives • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

In Riga, Latvia a group was formed 600 years ago of merchants and traders who became known throughout Europe and made alliances with many different cities around Europe and other parts of the world. As you go through the photos you will gradually see the story of Riga and blackheads.

Schindler‘s lift Riga and blackheads — Schindler‘s Lift

Riga cathedral Riga and blackheads — Riga’s cathedral

Shortest street in Riga Riga and blackheads — This is the narrow list and shortest street in Riga

The reason for the blackheads Bill Smale — This explains the term “blackheads” and the significance of the founding of the merchant union

Maurice is celebrated Bill Smale — Why Maurice is celebrated

Founding of the city — Riga was founded in 1201

The founding of the blackheads Bill Smale — So in 1413, or thereabouts, the blackheads were started and they were a traveling merchant group of people.

The first Christmas tree — They are suggesting this is where the idea of the Christmas tree came from. I have not checked that information but it’s very interesting

The building is mostly destroyed — It’s unfortunate this building was completely destroyed but it has been rebuilt

The Russians destroy the building — Completely destroying the building was in line with the anti-capitalist ideology but the remnants of the building were probably a danger in any case.

The blackhead building is rebuilt — The blackheads building is rebuilt as a monument to the power of the city and the country

A gift to the new blackhead building — This crystal was a gift for the opening of the new building

Artifact explanation — This is an explanation of the beautiful artifact but I forgot to keep the photo of the artifact

Blackheads meeting room — The grand meeting room

Lubec Association — A long time associated group in Germany is celebrated

Street food — OK, now we get down to the street. This is all different kinds of street food available with prices in euro

pulling from memory, there is a story of how the Russians became aligned with the Greek version of Christianity. One of the Russian Ivan’s were shopping for religion. If he allied with Rome he would have to bow to the pope. However, if he allied with the orthodox church he could claim that he is the intermediary between God and the people, kind of like being a pope.

There are reasons the three Baltic states are three different countries and a lot of it has to do with history and a major part of that history is language.

Riga is the only city I visited in Latvia but it’s a very interesting city and you should spend two or three days here walking around and seeing the interesting sites. One thing about the three countries in this area, the people are very welcoming, friendly and willing to help out with whatever you need so feel free to talk with people.

Cathedral Riga Excursions — This is the inside courtyard of the Riga Cathedral

Clock face Riga Excursions — A lot of the cathedral was destroyed but some pieces like this clock face were saved

Horseback hero Riga Excursions — Hero Rose need to be on horseback

Recovered Stone face Riga Excursions — Some very old stone carving which was recovered in the courtyard

Cannons Bill Smale — These are just Canon exhibits which I found a little strange to have a cathedral

Blackface Bill Smale — This was a tribute place to buy the “blackface” which were the merchant associated people with their own large house which is shown later

Pipe organ Bill Smale — An extremely ordinate pipe organ

Pizza Bill Smale — The reheated pizza here was extremely good. I never had much reheated pizza because of the dimension flavor flavors but this was very well regarded so I went to this restaurant and it was very tasty

Stained glass window — A beautiful stained glass window

Saint Peter’s Church with its very impressive spire

I guess there’s not much more you can say about Belgian beer

Bar — A pretty active bar across from the hotel

Park buildings — Beautiful buildings by the park

Cathedral side gate — Old gate at the side of the cathedral

Small plaza — It was too snowy and cold to sit down in a small plaza

Medieval pub — An ancient style (dark ages) pub which I did not go into since it was too early in the day

Amber is the thing in Riga — In Riga the thing is Amber. Kind of like in Toledo where the thing is swords and knives.

Building for sale — Jump jumping around a little this is just an interesting building which was for rent or for sale. I can’t imagine who would build this and then try to sell it

Place to visit — This house is a welcoming place for foreign diplomats including the emperor Japan

Glassware — Some of the beautiful glassware saved

Wagner played here — He played in the backface house. Riga had a very strong trading relationship with Bremen Germany and they had an affiliated house in Bremen

Basement — This is part of the basement which was not destroyed

Built in 1860 — A photo of the house in 1860. The members of the association were extremely powerful politicians and economic forces in this area of the world

backface emblem — An emblem on the cannon

Ceremony room — Beautiful area for ceremonies

Beautiful ceiling — Beautifully decorated ceiling

Local market — This is the main market nearby for local people

Cured meats — All different kinds of cured meats

Place to eat — On the second floor of the market you order your food from stalls and eat here

A mixture of food foods — Hawaiian poke and Chinese stuff

Japanese foods — These are supposed to be Japanese style foods

Ancient tram — An ancient tram system still working

Corner building — An interesting corner building

Russian church — The Russian Orthodox Church

Outside of the Russian church — The Russian church from the outside

Share this:

Share this: