In the middle of a long drive from Vilnius to Riga, my group stopped to visit Rundale Palace, a Baroque masterpiece built as a summer lodge for the Duke of Courland in 1736.
We walked and walked to what seemed like the middle of nowhere and then came upon a large gate. When we walked through the gate, this was our view! I immediately thought: Versailles!
When the Duke of Courland came into disgrace, Catherine the Great gave the palace to the brother of her lover. The German army occupied it during WWI and used it as a hospital (think Downton Abbey) and then it was used as a school for many years. It became a museum in 1972.
The inside of the palace was spectacular! Every room had beautiful chandeliers, parquet floors, fireplaces with Delft tiles, and incredible frescoes on the ceiling! It may have even rivaled Versailles.
Once we arrived in Riga we were able to see the beautiful buildings in the Art Nouveau District.
Riga is one of the largest centers for Art Nouveau with over 800 buildings. Many of them were designed by the Latvian architect Mikhail Eisenstein.
The Freedom Monument commemorates those killed in the Latvian War for Independence (1918-1920). All of the sculptures around the statue represent Latvian history and culture. There is a guard of honor with four soldiers at the monument and there is a changing of the guard ceremony every hour.
My favorite part of the day was wandering through the Old Town. Here are some highlights.
Town Square
Cat House (L) and the Town Musicians of Bremen (R)
St. Peter's Church (L) and inside (R)
Town Hall (L) House of the Blackheads (R)
Stock Exchange
Riga Cathedral (L) and one of the "Three Brothers" (R)
St. James Cathedral (L) and inside (R)
Parliament Building
Swedish Gate (L) and the Powder Tower (R)
The next day we took a day trip to Gauja National Park to see several castles. Our first stop was the Sigulda Castle ruins and the New Castle.
The new Sigulda Castle was built after WWI for the wealthy Kropotkin family. Now it houses the offices of the town council.
The medieval castle was built by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, a group of German monks who eventually became the Teutonic Order, in 1207.
Turaida Castle is on the opposite bank of the Gauja River from Sigulda Castle. It was built in 1214 by the Archbishop of Riga.
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