Hotels in Riga

Hotels in Riga

Hotels in Riga are often required for tourists who may want to see the culture, history, sports and tourist attractions of the region. Some tourists may want access to large hotels or small hotels in the region. Some may want access to luxury hotels or cheap hotels. Some tourists may want stay at hotels that express Latvian culture. Some tourists may want to stay at new hotels or old hotels. Some may want to stay at hotels in the city or near the city.

Tourists may want to stay at hotels in the city of Riga to have a place to stay.

Riga the capital of Latvia, is situated on the Baltic Sea coast on the mouth of the river Daugava. Riga is the largest city in the Baltic states.

Riga is located on the site of an ancient settlement of the Livonians, an ancient Finnic tribe, at the junction of the Daugava and the Riga River, at one point forming a natural harbor called the Riga Lake, neither of which exist today. It is believed that the name of the river gave Riga its name.

The modern founding of Riga is regarded by historians to have begun with the arrival of German traders, mercenaries and religious crusaders in the second half of the 12th century, attracted by a sparsely populated region, potential new markets and by the missionary opportunities to convert the local population to Christianity. German merchants established an outpost for trading with the Balts near the Liv settlement at Riga in 1158. The Augustinian monk Meinhard built a monastery there ca. 1190.

Bishop Albert was proclaimed Bishop of Livonia by his uncle Hartwig, Archbishop of Bremen and Hamburg in 1199. He landed in Riga in 1201 with 23 ships and more than 1500 armed crusaders, making Riga his bishopric. He established the Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword (later a branch of the Teutonic Knights) and granted Riga city rights in 1225.

Riga served as a gateway to trade with the Baltic tribes and with Russia. In 1282 Riga became a member of the Hanseatic League. The Hansa was instrumental in giving Riga economic and political stability, thus providing the city with a strong foundation which endured the political conflagrations that were to come, down to modern times.

As the influence of the Hansa waned, Riga became the object of foreign military, political, religious and economic aspirations. Riga accepted the Reformation in 1522, ending the power of the archbishops. In 1524, a venerated statue of the Virgin Mary in the Cathedral was denounced as a witch, and given a trial by water in the Daugava River. The statue floated, so it was denounced as a witch and burnt at Kubsberg. With the demise of the Teutonic Knights in 1561, Riga for twenty years had the status of a Free Imperial City, then in 1581, Riga came under the influence of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1621 Riga and the outlying fortress of Daugavgriva came under the rule of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, who intervened in the Thirty Years' War not only for political and economic gain but also in favor of German Lutheran Protestantism. During the Russo-Swedish War, 1656-1658, Riga withstood a siege by Russians. Riga remained the largest city in Sweden until 1710 during a period in which the city retained a great deal of self-government autonomy. In that year, in the course of Great Northern War, Russia under Tsar Peter the Great invaded Riga. Sweden's northern dominance ended, and Russia's emergence as the strongest Northern power was formalized through the Treaty of Nystad in 1721. Riga was annexed by Russia and became an industrialized port city of the Russian empire, where it remained until World War I. By 1900, Riga was the third largest city in Russia after Moscow and Saint Petersburg in terms of numbers of industrial workers.[citation needed]
Riga in 1650. The inscription reads: Prospect der Stadt Riga ums Jahr 1650 (View at the City of Riga in the year 1650). Drawing by Johann Christoph Brotze
Riga seen from Spot Satellite

During these many centuries of war and changes of power in the Baltic, the Baltic Germans in Riga remained in their dominant position despite demographic changes. Riga employed German as its official language of administration until the imposition of Russian language in 1891 as the official language in the Baltic provinces. Latvians began to supplant Germans as the largest ethnic group in the city in the mid-19th century. The rise of a Latvian bourgeoisie made Riga a center of the Latvian National Awakening with the founding of the Riga Latvian Association in 1868 and the organization of the first national song festival in 1873. The nationalist movement of the Young Latvians was followed by the socialist New Current during the city's rapid industrialization, culminating in the 1905 Revolution led by the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party.

The 20th century brought World War I and the impact of the Russian Revolution of 1917 to Riga. The German army marched into Riga in 1917. In 1918 the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed giving the Baltic countries to Germany. Because of the Armistice with Germany of November 11, 1918, Germany had to renounce that treaty, as did Russia, leaving Latvia and the other Baltic States in a position to claim independence. Latvia, with Riga as its capital city, thus declared its independence on November 18, 1918.

Between World War I and World War II (1918–1940), Riga and Latvia shifted their focus from Russia to the countries of Western Europe. The United Kingdom and Germany replaced Russia as Latvia's major trade partners.

During the World War II, Latvia was occupied first by the Soviet Union in 1941 and then by Nazi Germany in 1941-1944. The Baltic Germans were forcibly repatriated to Germany. The city's Jewish community was forced into a ghetto in the Maskavas neighbourhoodm and suffered from the NAZI holocaust.

In 1945 Latvia was once again occupied by the Red Army.

The policy of economic reform, introduced in 1986 as Perestroika, led to dissolution of the Soviet Union and restoration of independent Latvia in 1991. Latvia formally joined the United Nations as an independent country on September 17, 1991. In 2004 Latvia joined both NATO and the European Union.

Cityscape

The Lutheran Cathedral, the largest church in the Baltic states. Built in the 13th century, it was modified several times in its history. It has a magnificent organ that dates from 1844.
Riga Castle (Ri-gas Pils), which houses the Museum of Latvian History and the Museum of Foreign Art.
Saint Peter's Church, Riga, with its 123 m (404 ft) high tower.
St. John's Church, a small 13th-century chapel, behind Saint Peter's Church.
The Powder Tower (Pulvertornis), the only tower that remains from the original city walls. The Latvian Museum of War is located inside.
St James's Roman Catholic cathedral.
Wooden architecture.
Ethnographic Open-Air Museum (Bri-vdabas Muzejs), houses, farm buildings, and church representing rural life going back hundreds of years. Situated along Jugla Lake (Juglas Ezers).
The Occupation Museum of Latvia, which documents the seizure and occupation of Latvia by different forces from 1940 to 1991.
Art Nouveau architecture on Central Riga streets such as Alberta and Elizabetes Iela.
Riga Radio and TV Tower - the third highest tower in Europe.
Motor Museum (Motormuzejs) - collection of retro motorcycles and automobiles, including some of the first motorcycles and remants of the Soviet era, for example, Brezhnev's and Stalin's armored limousines with waxworks of these political figures. Located in Mežciems.
Riga Zoo and Mežaparks (Forest Park) with a Ferris wheel.
Riga Circus - the only permanently situated circus in the Baltic States.

Neighbourhoods

The city of Riga consists of six administrative regions, four of which are named after regions of Latvia - Kurzeme district, Latgale suburb, Vidzeme suburb, Zemgale suburb. There is also a Central District and a Northern district. Residents, however, divide Riga into residential neighbourhoods called micro regions. Unlike the city centre, they are mostly residential although they are equipped with commercial sectors. These neighbourhoods include:

A-genskalns - Left bank, old neighbourhood, mainly built in late 19th - early 20th century.
Andrejsala - An emerging art, culture and entertainment district, located within former territory of the industrial port.
Beberbek,i - A neighbourhood consisting mainly of private houses, it lies on the western edge of the city. The swampy forest Mukupurvs and Riga Airport noise area separate it from the rest of the city.
Boldera-ja - Left bank, northernmost neighbourhood. The 18th-century fort built by Peter the Great is one of the oldest buildings in this part of the city.
C(iekurkalns - Right bank, old neighbourhood.
Da-rzciems - Right bank, mainly consists of one or two-storey private houses.
Dreilin,i - A newly built neighbourhood in the eastern part of the city.
Dzirciems - Left bank, south of Il,g,uciems.
Il,g,uciems - Left bank, north of A-genskalns.
Imanta - Left bank, newly built neighbourhood.
Jugla - Right bank, large neighbourhood, lies just west of lake Juglas.
K,engarags - Right bank, south-east of city center. One of the most populous neighbourhoods in town.
K,i-psala - island located just west of the Old Town. Home to the Press Office and Exhibition Hall.
Maskavas Forštate - located south of the city centre.
Mežaparks - Right bank, consists largely of private houses. Notable for its large forest-like park and the city zoo.
Mežciems - Right bank, just east of the large Bik,ernieku forest.
Pa-rdaugava - Not really a neighbourhood in itself, but the name is frequently used when talking about left bank, particularly A-genskalns and Torn,akalns.
Pleskoda-le - A neighbourhood consisting mostly of private houses on the west side of the city. It borders Zolitu-de and Šampe-teris neighbourhoods.
Pl,avnieki - Right bank, one of the town's most populous neighbourhoods.
Purvciems - Right bank.
Sarkandaugava - Right bank, east of the small river with the same name.
Šampe-teris - An old neighbourhood on the best bank of the Daugava, with many houses built in the first part of 20th century still surviving.
Šmerlis - Right bank, more of a forest than a neighbourhood, it is home to Riga's Cinema Studio.
Torn,akalns - Left bank, old neighbourhood known for the Ma-ras pond.
Vecmi-lgra-vis - Right bank, cut off from the mainland by a small river, Mi-lgra-vis.
Vecri-ga - Old Town.
Ziepniekkalns - Left bank, consists both of old and new buildings.
Zolitu-de - Left bank, another newly-built neighbourhood, just south of Imanta.