Further Distractions
Bastekalns Park
Two sides of modern Riga are on display in Bastekalns Park. On warm days, the park fills with gossiping workers, 20-somethings stuck to their mobile phones and couples taking lazy strolls along the city canal that runs through the park. In the darker background, however, stands the memorial to the five Latvians who were shot near here, when the Soviets tried to crush the independence movement, on 20 January 1991. The victims included two cameramen and a student. The park has recently been re-landscaped and is now a much more pleasant place in which to idle away a few hours.
Basteja bulvaris, Krisjana Valdemara iela, Raina bulvaris and Brivibas iela
Transport: Bus 21, 22 or 32; trolley bus 3, 13, 15 or 18; tram 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 or 13.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.
Riga Churches
Just outside the Old Town walls, the Roman Catholic cathedral of Riga has been reincarnated many times. Jekaba Baznica (St Jacob’s Church) was once a Lutheran parish church, a Jesuit church and even a Swedish garrison church. But now, revelling in layers of history, it is an atmospheric place of Catholic worship. Jezus Baznica (Jesus Church), Riga’s oldest wooden church, has fought an epic battle with fire for centuries and its survival is reason alone to visit. Grebenscikova Baznica (Grebenscikova Church) is another wooden church, this time a gold-domed affair that dates back to the early 19th century. Aleksandra Nevska Baznica (Alexander Nevsky Church), named after the 13th-century Russian prince, who is a folk hero with the Russian population in Riga, is a Russian Orthodox church dating back to the 1820s.
St Jacob’s Church
Klostera 2
Jesus Church
Elijas iela
Grebenscikova Church
Krasta 73
Alexander Nevsky Church
Brivibas 56
Transport: Bus 21, 22 or 32; trolley bus 3, 13, 15 or 18; tram 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 or 13 to city centre; all churches within walking distance of each other.
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