Historic Centre of Riga
Riga was a major centre of the Hanseatic League, deriving its prosperity in the 13th–15th centuries from the trade with central and eastern Europe. The urban fabric of its medieval centre reflects this prosperity, though most of the earliest buildings were destroyed by fire or war. Riga became an important economic centre in the 19th century, when the suburbs surrounding the medieval town were laid out, first with imposing wooden buildings in neoclassical style and then in Jugendstil . It is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe.
Riga was a major centre of the Hanseatic League, deriving its prosperity in the 13th–15th centuries from the trade with central and eastern Europe. The urban fabric of its medieval centre reflects this prosperity, though most of the earliest buildings were destroyed by fire or war. Riga became an important economic centre in the 19th century, when the suburbs surrounding the medieval town were laid out, first with imposing wooden buildings in neoclassical style and then in Jugendstil . It is generally recognized that Riga has the finest collection of art nouveau buildings in Europe.
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
The Historic Centre of Riga is a living illustration of European history. Through centuries, Riga has been the centre of many historic events and a meeting point for European nations, and it has managed to preserve evidence of European influence on its historical development, borders between the West and the East, and intersection of trading and cultural routes. Riga has always been a modern city keeping up with the current trends in architecture and urban planning, and at the same time, preserving the city’s integrity in the course of development.
Riga, which was founded as a port town in 1201, was one of the key centres of the Hanseatic League in Eastern Europe from the 13th to the 15th century. The urban fabric of its medieval core reflects the prosperity of those times, though most of the earliest buildings were rebuilt for actual needs or lost by fire or war. In the 17th century, Riga became the largest provincial town of Sweden. In the 19th century, it experienced rapid industrial development. It is in this period that the suburbs surrounding the medieval town were laid out, first, with imposing wooden buildings in neoclassical style, and later, when permanent stone buildings were allowed instead, in the Art Nouveau style. In the early 1900’s Riga became the European city with the highest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture with around 50 Art Nouveau buildings of high architectural value in the medieval part and more than 300 in the rest of the Historic Centre. The site reflects various architectural styles, which provide valuable insight into the stages of development of Riga as a city. The Historic Centre of Riga is comprised of three different urban landscapes – the relatively well-preserved medieval core, the 19th century semi-circle of boulevards with a green belt on both sides of the City Canal, and the former suburban quarters surrounding the boulevards with dense built-up areas with a rectangular network of streets and wooden architecture of the 18th and 19th centuries. Each of these parts has its characteristic relationship of buildings and public outdoor spaces.
The Outstanding Universal Value to be preserved also resides in the spacious panorama of the Historic Centre of Riga with an expressive skyline. The medieval core of Riga is located on the right bank of the River Daugava, allowing a picturesque view on the skyline saturated with numerous church towers from the different perspectives of the left bank. Historic buildings are relatively low, with only church towers creating vertical dominance.
Riga always has had a role in the cultural, scientific, social, artistic, industrial and educational development of the region, being one of the biggest harbour cities and trade centres in the Baltic Sea Region, and thus, providing the exchange of the achievements of Western and Eastern civilizations. Riga Polytechnic, being the only higher architecture education institution until World War I in the Baltic States, promoted the dissemination of the patterns of its own architecture to Tallinn, Vilnius and other towns of the western part of Tsarist Russia.
Criterion (i): The medieval and later-period urban planning structure of the Historic Centre of Riga, as well as the quantity and quality of Art Nouveau architecture, which is unparalleled anywhere in the world, and the 19th century wooden architecture make it of Outstanding Universal Value. The Historic Centre of Riga has the finest concentration of Art Nouveau architecture in the world.
Criterion (ii): Riga has exerted considerable influence within the cultural area of the Baltic Sea on the developments in architecture, monumental sculpture and garden design.
Integrity
The property is the whole central part of the capital city of Riga. Its boundaries and its buffer zone are specified in accordance with the integrity of the urban fabric and the effective protection of the important views of the site. It contains all elements necessary to express Outstanding Universal Value, namely the architectural monuments of respective historical styles of the medieval core; the semicircle of boulevards, dominated by harmonically balanced 19th century and early 20th century eclectic architecture and Art Nouveau; and the territory of former suburbs with buildings from the 18th to the 20th century, especially in wood. The outstanding panorama and visual perspectives of the Historic Centre of Riga reflect the effective protection of the important views of the property.
The integrity of the site is challenged by the loss of original substance and authenticity of the site attributes, and the low-quality new developments in the Historic Centre of Riga not respecting the scale, character and pattern of the historic environment. The overall coherence of the site is also vulnerable to the possible adverse impact of new developments in and outside of the buffer zone.
Authenticity
The Historic Centre of Riga is a spatially harmonic urban environment with relatively few destructive transformations. The Historic Centre of Riga and its buffer zone include a set of authentic cultural and historical attributes significant to its Outstanding Universal Value: structure of historic urban pattern with high-quality transformations of later periods, panorama and skyline, visual perspectives, historic structure, (particularly groups of buildings of the Middle Ages, Art Nouveau and wooden architecture and the scale and character thereof), archaeological cultural layer, public outdoor space, system of greeneries and green areas, historic water courses, waterfronts and water bodies, historic ground surfacing, and historic elements of improvements.
Protection and management requirements
The preservation of the Historic Centre of Riga is ensured by a strong system of legal acts – seven international conventions on heritage protection, which the Republic of Latvia has joined, the Law on Protection of Cultural Monuments, the Law on Preservation and Protection of the Historic Centre of Riga, 23 other laws, 27 Cabinet regulations and orders, and the Plan for Preservation and Development of the Historic Centre of Riga and its protection zone (adopted in 2006 by the Riga City Council) including binding regulations (by-laws) specific for this territory.
The management system is based on the framework mentioned above and institutional collaboration between state and local municipality institutions. The responsible institutions that are stable in the long term are the State Inspection for Heritage Protection and the Riga City Council with its respective institutions (City Development Department of Riga, Riga City Construction Board and Riga City Architect’s Office with its Collegium). In order to ensure broader regular involvement of all interested parties and a more holistic approach towards the preservation, protection and development matters of the Historic Centre of Riga, the Council for Preservation and Development of the Historic Centre of Riga was established in 2003. The Council meets regularly, and its sittings and decision making process is open to the public.
The comprehensive model of the protection and preservation of the Historic Centre of Riga strives to sustain the authenticity and integrity of the site and to ensure the prevention of potential threats. The main threats of the property include the following areas. Firstly, the planning of urban development that is insufficiently based on balanced long-term development and low public participation in planning processes poses a threat to the property. Secondly, extremities in economic development, excessively fast growth or crisis could dramatically affect the property. Insufficient understanding and appreciation of heritage values in the society could threaten the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. Thirdly, trends of losing original substance and authenticity that must be continuously overcome, for example, demolition of historic buildings and constructions, transformation of historic planning structure, low-quality changes of spatial composition or roof shape of historic buildings and repairs of historic buildings using unsuitable methods and/or materials, and falsification of history with replicas of historical buildings or imitations of styles may pose a threat to the property. Similarly, trends of low-quality new buildings, including construction of new, large buildings that do not match the scale and character of the historic building pattern, large facilities that attract traffic in the historic city centre and the construction of new cheap buildings of low architectural value in valuable locations of the historic urban environment. Finally, insufficient financial resources for heritage preservation activities may also have an adverse impact on the development of the property.
The preservation and development framework for the Historic Centre of Riga is constantly being elaborated e.g. by data base improvement, further elaboration of detailed plans and local plans for certain areas, overall visual impact studies and their requirements, procedures for heritage impact assessment as well as diversification of local community involvement. The municipality develops legal frameworks and provisions to deal with these challenges in a holistic and participatory manner. The planning approach is based on a new system of planning in Latvia, introduced in 2011. The new long-term Development Strategy and mid-term Development Programme as well as the Spatial Plan according to new principles are in their initial stages of development. The municipality has issued binding regulations concerning building and land-use, which will prevent the appearance of over-scaled new constructions affecting the site and the demolition of historic buildings. These initiatives are being strengthened by state-level binding regulations, which demand the evaluation of every intended change related to heritage or the original structure, based on an assessment of certain cultural and historical values; evaluation and open discussion of changes in inter-institutional Councils; open architectural competitions in every case a new construction is planned for a public outdoor space. These initiatives are being enhanced by changing attitudes towards heritage values in the society thanks to extensive campaigns for tourist attraction (Live Riga, managed by the municipal Tourism Development office), public discussions organized by NGOs and state and municipal institutions.
The Basic Statements of Tourism Development in Riga is updated by the Municipality. Every historic building designated for public use has its own instructions for cases of emergency. An overall system of disaster management is implemented according to the Civil Protection Law. The relative proximity of the Riga Free Port transhipment zone to the Historic Centre of Riga and hence the transportation and reloading of hazardous and polluting substances through the Historic Centre of Riga and its buffer zone may be considered as a potential threat, although port activities are planned to be moved from their present location.
Financial instruments for the World Heritage property are formed by the state and municipality budget, tax system, international financial instruments, and private funding. The joint cooperation of all stakeholders has been established by inclusion, information and incentives over time.
Long Description
The Historic Centre of Riga, while retaining its medieval and later urban fabric relatively intact, is of outstanding universal value by virtue of the quality and the quantity of its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture, unparalleled anywhere in the world, and its 19th-century architecture in wood. It has exerted a considerable influence within the Baltic cultural area on subsequent developments in architecture.
Archaeological excavations in the Old Town have shown that there were settlements of the local tribes, the Livs and the Cours, along with some foreign trading posts, on the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Ridzene and Daugava rivers by the late 11th century, and the place became a crossroads for trade between east and west. Livonia was Christianized in 1184 by the German monk Meinhard, but early chronicles attribute the establishment of the city to Bishop Albert in 1201. In 1221 the inhabitants successfully rebelled against German domination. A town council was elected by the body of the citizenry to become its legislative and executive body. The independent city prospered, becoming the third-largest mercantile centre on the Baltic (after Lübeck and Gdansk), and in 1282 it formed an alliance with Lübeck and Visby to become a member of the Hanseatic League.
By the 15th century Riga was a typical large Hanseatic town, with winding streets and densely packed dwelling houses, a large market square in the centre on which the town hall was situated and strong fortifications. The mid-16th century saw two strong forces acting on Riga. It embraced the Reformation and the teachings of Martin Luther and successfully resisted the Counter-Reformation in the 1530s and 1540s. However, it was unable to stand up to the forces of Ivan the Terrible in 1559. Russian occupation was followed by Polish domination, and Riga stood between Poland and the ambitions of Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden. In 1621 Riga became part of the enlarged Swedish Kingdom, and experienced many years of war during the struggles between Sweden and Russia. In 1710, following the defeat of Charles XII of Sweden at the battle of Poltava, Riga fell to the Russian army after a siege of nine months, to remain part of the Tsarist Russian Empire until the creation of the first Republic of Latvia in 1918.
The area of the Historic Centre of Riga consists of three elements: the medieval Old City, the 19th century semi-circle of boulevards, and the 18th and 19th century former suburban quarters lying outside the boulevards, with a chequerboard layout.
Few medieval houses are still intact; of these one of the most interesting is the House of the Three Brothers, an impeccably restored group from the 15th century. The late 17th-century Reutem's House and Dammnstem's House are more monumental buildings, notable for their interior decorations and fittings as well as their impressive facades. The town walls were demolished in the mid-19th century, but one section has been reconstructed, complete with bastion.
The boulevards have many important 19th- and early 20th-century public buildings fronting on to them, including the National Theatre and the Museum of Latvian Art. The creation of the boulevards coincided with the reign of eclecticism in Europe, and this movement is abundantly represented. The suburbs that expanded and developed so rapidly from the mid-19th century onwards are notable for both the surviving wooden buildings in the classical Russian style and the extraordinary wealth of buildings that arose after the removal of the fortifications and the implementation of the new city plan, and in particular in the closing decade of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. Eclecticism allowed architects to produce many fights of fancy, well illustrated by the 'House of the Cat' on Meistaru Street.
However, it was Art Nouveau (Jugendstil), which reached Riga via Finland at the very end of the 19th century, that provided the suburban area with its most noteworthy feature. There are countless examples, perhaps the most outstanding of which are the works of Mikhail Eisenstein in Alberta Street and Elizabeth Street. National Romanticism evolved into Jugendstil in Latvia, again on the Finnish model. This movement is represented by the work of architects such as E. Laube and A. Vanags, with some striking examples of their work in Alberta Street and Brivibas Street.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
Historical Description
Archaeological excavations in the Old Town have shown that there were settlements of the local tribes, the Livs and the Cours, along with some foreign trading posts, on the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Ridzene and Daugava rivers by the late 11th century, and the place became a cross-roads for trade between east and west. Livonia was christianized in 1184 by the German monk Meinhard, but early chronicles attribute the establishment of the city to Bishop Albert in 1201. However, almost nothing is known about the layout of this first city. Its simple wooden buildings were concentrated on the tip of the peninsula around the harbour and the streets were made of logs. There appears to have been no defensive enclosure wall.
German settlers brought stone building techniques with them, and two castles were built, one for the Bishop and the other for the knights of the Teutonic Order, who accompanied Albert on his mission to Livonia. A stone defensive wall was constructed in 1210, to enclose all the existing settlements, including the foreign trading posts. Vigorous opposition from the merchants forced the Bishop to accept the Visby Law, which assigned important rights to citizens.
However, strife between the Bishop and the Order on the one hand and the merchants on the other persisted, and in 1221 the inhabitants successfully rebelled against German domination. A town council was elected by the body of the citizenry to become its legislative and executive body. The independent city prospered, becoming the third largest mercantile centre on the Baltic (after Liibeck and Gdansk), and in 1282 it formed an alliance with Liibeck and Visby to become a member of the Hanseatic League. Its wealth increased as Riga assumed the role of the principal port handling Russian furs, wax, timber, tar, potash, tallow, and leather going westwards and cloth. salt, herrings, wine, beer, and spices moving into the Russian heartland.
The 13th and the early 14th centuries saw Riga prow in size to some 28ha. Work began on the three main churches that survive to the present day and on a number of imposing public and commercial buildings. Regulations promulgated fist in 1293 prohibited the use of wood for construction and north German stone techniques were brought in. By the 15th century Riga was a typical large Hanseatic town, with winding streets and densely packed dwelling houses, a large market square in the centre on which the town hall was situated, and strong fortifications (which were to be radically reconstructed from 1537 onwards to counter the new weapon, artillery). By the end of the 16th century the population had risen to over ten thousand.
The mid-16th century saw two strong forces acting on Riga. It embraced the Reformation and the teachings of Martin Luther and successfully resisted the Counter Reformation in the 1530s and 1540s. However, it was unable to stand up to the forces of Ivan the Terrible in 1559. Russian occupation was followed by Polish domination, and Riga stood between Poland and the ambitions of Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden. In 1621 Riga became part of the enlarged Swedish kingdom, and experienced many years of war during the struggles between Sweden and Russia. In 1710, following the defeat of Charles XII of Sweden at the battle of Poltava, Riga fell to the Russian army after a siege of nine months, to remain part of the Tsarist Russian Empire until the creation of the first Republic of Latvia in 1918.
Both Sweden and Russia made Riga the administrative capital of the Baltic countries. During the Russian period, the administrative centre moved from the Old City to the former castle of the Teutonic Knights outside the walls. There was also considerable suburban expansion, in 1769 and again in 1815, on a checkerboard layout. Throughout this period Riga experienced changes in its building styles. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries the emphasis was on Classicism, expressed in the form of single-storey wooden buildings, especially in the new suburbs but also replacing earlier buildings in the Old City.
The advent of Russian rule in the mid-18th century resulted in a short period of economic stagnation, but by the end of the century booming foreign trade led to considerable industrial development. The population rose from over 60,000 in 1857 to over 300,000 forty years later. Riga was the fifth largest city in the Russian Empire (after Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, and Warsaw) and its largest port, whilst its factories were responsible for 5.7% of the gross industrial production of the Empire.
This new prosperity led to a radical new approach to the city's urban structure. The fortifications were levelled in 1857 and a new plan for the reconstruction of the city was implemented in 1857-63. As a result, the whole spatial and structural design of the city changed. The space occupied by the walls was replaced by a green belt of gardens, and outside these a new semi-circular sweep of broad boulevards was laid out. The new city that developed beyond these boulevards was endowed with many public buildings - theatres, schools, the university, the central post office, and the central railway station.
The bourgeoisie of Riga used their wealth to build imposing private residences and apartment blocks in the expanding suburbs, where an earlier ordinance forbidding the use of stone for building was rescinded. Latvian and Russian architects adopted the European movements enthusiastically, and in particular Art Nouveau, which came from Finland. This developed its own characteristics in Riga, where a national style was created by graduates of the Riga Polytechnic.
During the two decades of the first Latvian Republic it was Functionalism that dominated the architecture of Riga, adding to its stylistic diversity. The project for modernizing the medieval Old City, as part of which a number of blocks were completely rebuilt and several streets widened, came to an abrupt halt with the outbreak of World War Il. During that conflict the Old City suffered grievously from bombardment, and only the most outstanding monuments, such as St Peter's Church and some medieval houses, were restored.
Source: UNESCO/CLT/WHC
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