Riga, Latvia
Today we explored a bit more of the Riga. We had to check out a few of the recommended sites such as the “Town Musicians of Bremen”. The story is about four ageing domestic animals, a donkey, dog, cat and cockerel, who fear that they’re about to be put down, so run away to Bremen to become musicians. We strolled past the “Cat House” which really was not that interesting, but it is a pretty building. We also strolled through a lovely park and saw a few more statues and monuments on the way to the Nativity of Christ Cathedral. The Cathedral is a very beautiful building which was completed in 1883. Although the cathedral had survived both world wars, in the early 1960’s, Soviet authorities closed the cathedral, sawed down the crucifixes, and re-melted the bells, and converted it into a planetarium, called the Republic House of Knowledge. The restoration of the cathedral began in the late 1990’s, and was consecrated by Archbishop Alexander on May 6, 2000. The renovation is still ongoing.
We also visited the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia which tells the tragic history of Latvia. It was occupied by the USSR in 1940/1941 and 1944 to 1991 as well as the German occupation during WWII. They finally attained full independence from the Soviet Union on August 21, 1991.