The Nativity of Christ Cathedral (1870’s)
I can hear the screams of anguish and despair already,
But have no fear or trepidation as the torture will last only a few paragraphs and several photos.
We are going back to Art Class for a few seconds!
“Oh no Donny! Not that again! We’d rather a lecture on (God forbid) Plate Tectonics! Anything but that stupid Art Wrecko or Gecko or whatever it is!”
Nicely done Class, I can see we’re making progress, you were able to at least rhyme something correctly, but no we’re not looking at Art Deco again, but its relative, Art Nouveau. And there’s no better place on the planet than Riga to show examples of this style. Thankfully, Riga’s architecture was able to survive WWII mostly intact as the bombing was minimal and there was no systematic razing of structures like there was in Warsaw.
So, you know all those cool decorations that are on some fancy old buildings? That’s them, that’s Art Nouveau. It featured the ‘organic’ aspects of life, flowing curves, plant-like florals, and a more modern take on our old friends from Europe, the gargoyles by incorporating lots of busts and faces. These were used at time in the same way….. they could stare at their neighbors with distain or be ‘reminiscent’ of a ‘message’ that the architect wanted to get across.
The period really only lasted about twenty years from roughly 1890 to 1910, and Riga is one of the worlds treasure troves of this type of architecture with over 800 buildings still available for perusal!
No worries, I’ll show you just three!
Now, that wasn’t so bad now was it?
Walking Tours of these cities is really the only way to discover the hidden gems within. Usually, the walk starts early in the morning and ends around lunchtime conveniently around the Main Square (which Riga has too many of!) and then we disperse for the real reason we all come here and I can assure you that as good as Art Nouveau is, it pales in comparison to a good eatery!
Hence this place!
Riga was an important Hanseatic trading city and as such, had the infrastructure to support it. You know, buildings that were secure, could hold a lot of important ‘stuff’. And were economical to store goods that need both that security and good, constant temperatures…. like a basement, or better yet, a cellar (almost the same but cellars sound much older!)
(The Photos are of a really dark place so best viewed in a darked environment!)
This place SCREAMS as it is the real deal! These cellars, this one in particular, date back to the 13th century ….. that’s the 1200’s folks! In it would have been for the storage of grain, honey, flax, and other notable items such as salted fish, meat, butter, and cabbage. Imported luxuries, such as spices, nuts, and wine, were also stored there. They were quite secure I can assure you as even the present-day entrance to this tomb-like place was interestingly a steep (def non-ADA compliant!) set of stairs.
It is Kvass, a fermented bev whose ingredients include stale, toasted rye bread, water, sugar, and yeast. The alcohol content is usually less than 1%.
It is a popular Slavic and Baltic drink, often described as a slightly bubbly, tangy, and bready tonic.
Not much has changed today as meats, butter, honey, spices, and fish can all be found there courtesy of their medieval menu. And yes, we could be found there also…. not just once, but twice as we wanted to go back. And the more we talked about it with our comrades, the more they wanted to join us. Aida wanted to check it out for future tours to visit, and it got an enthusiastic ‘thumbs up’ from her! I wonder if we can file for future ‘commissions’ on the sales 🙂