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City Guide  - Riga  - Further Distractions
Further Distractions

Bastekalns Park

Two sides of modern Riga are on display in Bastekalns Park. On warm days, the park fills with gossiping workers and twenty-somethings stuck to their mobile phones, and couples taking lazy strolls along the city canal that runs through the park. In the darker background, though, stands the memorial to the five Latvians shot near here when the Soviets tried to crush the independence movement on 20 January 1991. The victims included two cameramen and a student.

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

Jekaba Baznica (St Jacob's Church)

Just outside the Old Town walls, the Roman Catholic cathedral of Riga has been reincarnated many times. It 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)

Another wooden church, this time a gold-domed affair that dates back to the early nineteenth century.

Aleksandra Nevska Baznica (Alexander Nevsky Church)

Named after the thirteenth-century Russian prince, who is a folk hero with the Russian population in Riga, this Russian Orthodox church dates back as far as 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.
Opening hours: Daily 24 hours.
Admission: Free.



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