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 Hello dear friends!

You are welcome to the Capital City of Latvia - Riga!

Riga is located along the Baltic Sea at the southern coast of the Gulf of Riga, on the Rigava coastal plain. The coastal plain is mostly flat, but inland to the east the land is hilly with forests and lakes. A total of 43%of the country is covered by forests, 10% consist of peat bogs, 2-3% of fresh water reservoirs, 40% is used for agriculture and 4% consist of towns, villages and roads. Raznas Lake is the largest in Latvia and the total number of lakes is 2.300. There are about 12.000 rivers in Latvia, but only 17 are longer than 100 km, the biggest being the River Daugava (1.020 km-the part that flows through the territory of Latvia is 365 km in length). The ports of Riga, Liepaja and Ventspils are ice free during winter.

The Old Riga (Vecriga) is a unique architectural ensemble combining diverse buildings and styles. This "stratagem" can be walked through in a quarter of an hour but one can also roam here until late in the evening. A foreigner who is here for the first time can even lose his way.
During ages the town of Riga surrounded by a stone wall has been developing in a restricted space. narrow winding street composed a complicated labyrinth. land plots were small and houses stood very close, so neighbors living across the street from each other could shake hands without leaving their homes. Now the narrowest street of Vecriga is a short segment of street between Jauniela and Tirgonu streets which has preserved since the XIII century. it has no pavements and two carts would not miss each other there.
Almost all the streets axisting currently in the Old Riga appeared by the beginning of the XVI century but some of them had no permanent names at that time. the ancient names of the streets indicate their inhabitants and tell about the history of the city.
Smilsu (Sand) Street  had been the main street of Riga until the XVII century. it ran from the main town gate and Sand (Powder) Tower. though the street has lost its primary purpose it has retained its name.
Houses of merchants where one could buy goods that were not available even at the Market Square were situated on Tirgonu (Merchant) Street.
Some streets have lost their purpose and the fact of them being renamed was not noticed. So, Skunu (Barn) Street never had any barns or warehouses on it. First its name was Kurpju (Shoe) Street since shoe-makers lived there. But in everyday speech that relatively long name was pronounced somehow shorter what finally gave Skunu.
Some streets have changed their names several times. Grecinieku (Sinner) Street was called the Street of the Rich in the XIV century.
Several houses of rich merchants stood on that street not far from the Market Square. Once one of those merchants by the name of Herman Sundem was the richest. Therefore the street, the gate at its end, and the XV century tower were called after him. later the family name Sundem was changed by the common people into "Sunder" meaning "sinner".
Untilthe XVIII century almost every landlord had a small animal-farm. in summer the cattle was driven to the pasture along the so called Pasture Road. the memory of those times has retained in the name of the street Ganibu Dambis (Pasture Dike).

The city, which is famous not only for its more than 800 years history and cultural heritage, but also for its active business environment and entertainment opportunities. Riga is a modern, dynamic European city. It is one of the largest cities in the Baltic region. Riga was officially founded in 1201. The Riga City history is more than eight hundred years long, and it has an abundance of dramatic events stored in countless volumes of works and monuments, legends, songs, memoirs and tales.

Riga is also called the city of parks and gardens. The central part of the city is mostly occupied by commercial offices, banks, and other business building reflecting the hectic present day life and the tendencies of rapid city development.

Sounds good, doesn't it? So why not plan a little trip to Riga? We would be more than happy to help you with it! Click here for more information.