Riga Art Nouveau tour

We will start the Riga Art Nouveau tour at Strelnieku and Elizabetes streets junction. Even though Riga center includes one-third building in the Art Nouveau architectural style, this area represents the most significant part of them. 

You will hear the story of Mikhail Eisenstein, who was a civil engineer and architect working and lived in Riga. Born not far away from Kyiv after graduating, he set his home in Riga. According to many experts, Eisenstein is the author of most iconic Art Nouveau buildings in Riga. Essential to mention his son, who was a world-famous movie director Sergej Eisenstein.

After a short introduction, it is time to visit the Riga Art Nouveau museum. Here you will see a variety of this style, as is not only exterior design, but also furniture, dishes, and even fabrics and jewelry. We will also speak about the arts and music of this period. 

We continue the walking tour and focus on the different accents of building decoration. Riga  Art Nouveau district is vast, and we will not see all of it. Every country has a bit different  Art Nouveau, and it makes it even more enjoyable. Riga’s Art Nouveau is very symbolistic; facade decors can tell a lot of Egyptian and Greek myths, as well as the Latvian folklore and fairy tails. We will glance into the stair rooms to see its extraordinary decoration. We will continue the journey to the old city of Riga, where we will see more architectural styles. 

In some of the Art Nouveau buildings lived notable personalities. Such as British philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin, Mayor of the city of Riga George Armistead, American photographer Philippe Halsman, and the others. We will visit one temple built in Art Nouveau style – Riga synagogue on Peitavas strict. Here we will review some other Tempels in Europe designed in the same form.

Check out an in-depth tour to the Baltic States