Underground pedestrian by-pass near the Markets

An attraction of Riga that no visitor should miss is Centrāltirgus (the Central Markets), the absolutely pulsating hub of the city. To get there from Ratslaukums you head south-east in the direction of Centrālā stacija (the central railway station). At Marijās iela pedestrians can cross the rail line via an underground tunnel. Look out for the colourful comic book murals on the tunnel walls (very Roy Lichtenstein style pop-art).

When you come up out of the underground, the tram lines lead you to the immense Centrāltirgus. The markets are made up of four mega-large hangars and an auxiliary building backing on to the Daugava River. The original idea of the markets when construction began in the 1920s was to use full Zeppelin hangars nearly 35m in height, but practical considerations saw the hangars scaled back to just over 20m high. The hangar designs incorporate an admixture of architectural forms – including touches of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Neo-classical.

Centrāltirgus

The four hangars are each characterised by having their own distinct type of goods: one for meat, for fish, for dairy, and for produce and vegetable. Unsurprisingly lots of pungent odours pervade the air, eg, marinated cabbage and gherkins and of course, fish. Some of the more memorable market comestibles on sale include whole pig heads, Baltic eels and lampreys, and visitors can also sample local drinks (kefīr, Latvian kvass, etc), Latvian-style cheeses, cakes and breads, all reasonably-priced when compared to “the High Street”. This is where the ordinary Rīdzinieki come for their daily needs of animal proteins, fruit and veg, so its’ an ideal place for visitors to get a “grass roots” feel for what the locals like to consume.

What’s inside the big hangars is only part of the story. Rows and rows of stalls, spilling out from the hangars as it were, fill most of the outdoor space between each hangar. Stallholders sell souvenirs, CDs, electronic appliances, shoes, everything that comes under the broad heading of clothing, plus various other apparel. In early September each year there is a “Cinema on the Wall” screening held in the Vegetable pavilion. Along with Riga’s Old Town the Centrāltirgus is UNESCO World Heritage listed.

Pilsētas Kanals

A canal jinks through the middle of Vecrīga (Old Riga), winding its way from the Osta Ferry Terminus, coming back to the Daugava near Centraltirgus. The canal, Pilsētas kanals as it is known, was originally created to provide a fortress moat for the medieval city (Old Riga being a walled city). When the fortified walls were torn down in the 19th century to extend the limits of the city, this action had the unintentional effect of creating the city canal which flows from the Daugava. Today the canal flows through some 12 hectares of city parkland. These tranquil channels of water and the surrounding strips of greenery are popular with people and ducks alike! Lots of visitors like to take boat trips down the canals (from Bastion Hill), passing under some 16 bridges (there is a 108 year-old German-built flat-top vessel still operating on the canals). Strewn alongside the canals (in the water as well) are a number of interesting modern sculptural pieces with a minimalist sailing boat motif. Both the river boat and the bank afford good views, especially of impressive buildings such as the formidably large, all-white Latvian National Opera building.

The canal-side parks (Bastion Hill, Kronvalda) are good places to relax and get a short respite from all the shopping, sightseeing and restaurants on offer in Riga. The location is quite central, a short walk from Vecrīga, so is easy to find. These two parks, comprising some 12 hectares of greenery, stretch along the Pilsētas kanals for some 3.5 km. Visitors can stroll the path parallel to the canal through beautifully manicured lawns with attractive garden settings shaded by lots of planted trees such as the Ginkgo biloba, Yellow Poplar and Kentucky coffeetree (Kronvalda Parks has over 100 species of foreign trees and shrubs). The parks contain a number of monuments and inscriptions to famous Latvians which are worth a browse.

Freedom Monument

Non-Latvian visitors might take a cursory interest in the very tall (42.7m) monument they can visit if they walk from Bastejkalns over the Brivivas street bridge. As large-scale monuments go, Freedom Monument (Brivibas Piemineklis) is an impressive work of sculpture, combining bas-relief and frieze style figures, and granite, travertine and copper materials. The monument with the feminine personification of liberty, Milda, atop, commemorates the Latvian War of Independence against Bolshevik Russia following WWI. At the base groups of patriotic Latvians are portrayed singing and fighting. Two guards of honour stand at attention at the foot of the monument and are subjected to stringent dress inspections by an khaki-clad soldier in somewhat overly-ceremonial fashion. Interesting footnote: monument guards must be at least 1.82 m tall and must remain entirely motionless during their stint of duty (good training to become a public impersonator of statues!).

The open square of Freedom Monument is encircled by the canal parklands. From Brivibas its only a short walk back across the canal bridge to Bastejkalns, or continuing along the canal pathway north, you will reach Kronvalda Parks. Both parks are popular with Rīdzinieki who like to spend hours either strolling through the tranquil gardens or relaxing near the canal. On a summer’s day refreshments are always close at hand, the area being well-stocked with mobile ice cream vendors who position their little carts strategically at all points of the parklands.

Bastejkalns Parks

Mārtinš is a part-time history tutor and part-time tour guide (everyone under 40 in Eastern Europe seems to have at least two jobs such is the general state of the economy). He filled us in on the House of the Blackheads, certainly one of the most elaborate and gorgeous buildings in Riga, the crème de la crème of Vecrīga. The original 14th century building was one of the many structures to succumb to the onslaught from both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army, but the building with its wonderful Dutch Renaissance style twin facade was painstakingly rebuilt post-independence by the Latvians.

Mārtinš concluded his highly polished presentation by showing us a few off-the-(tourist)-beaten-track spots where you can get away from the crowds and chill out, including a very nice canal-side garden park in the city. The intermittent rain we encountered didn’t manage to spoil our enjoyment of what was a very comprehensive and entertaining two-hour tour with masses of information and pointers on how to maximise one’s limited time in Riga. The accomplished Mārtinš said goodbye to us at the canal, signing off with an unorthodox but nonetheless very athletic aerial foot-clap that would have done justice to an adroit Baltic seal!

Close to the cruise ship and passenger vessel ports is the Sadamaturg (markets) which has stalls under the roof and outside all selling pretty much the same items – clothing, bags, ladies fashion, belts, caps, souvenirs, etc. Hardly anyone there when I visited, the stall-holders (95% women) aren’t particularly friendly but they seem to watch you pretty closely (not a great ambience conducive to relaxed shopping). You will find bargain buys at the markets but there are no better deals on offer than there is across the tramlines at Vanalinn. Obviously Sadama’s main customer target is the visitors who come off the boats & ferries from the Port (Terminal B is just behind the markets). The markets had the usual cut-price alcohol for sale, slabs of cheap Saku and A. De Coq beer, Vana Tallinn, whiskey, etc all over the shop.

On the western side of the Sadama foreshore the terrain becomes even more grotty and rundown, with lots of abandoned businesses, burnt-out shells of old warehouses, aicraft hangars and broken glass strewn everywhere. Near the Linnahall ferry port there is the scarred remains of an enormous concrete structure, long abandoned, on the edge of the water. Tallinna Linnahall was a concert hall and sporting venue created for the 1980 Olympics, but what remains has been likened to an ancient Mayan ruin. The roof of the grey-hued old complex, highly defaced by graffiti, is now just a roost for seabirds and an out-of-the-way rendezvous point for local youth to hang out at. One hundred metres along the shoreline from the ferry port is the Tallinn fish markets (Kalaturg), a very small affair indeed, certainly nothing like Billingsgate!