Built in 1225, this church has ping-ponged many times between Catholic and Protestant, and has been home to many languages and communities, including Germans, Swedes, Poles and Estonians. Most notably, it was here that Latvians first heard a mass in their own tongue during its Lutheran stint in 1523. Exactly 400 years later it was handed back to the Catholics to be used as their cathedral.
St James' Cathedral
Old Rīga
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.6 MILES
Like a huge painting that you can spend hours staring at, as your eye detects more and more intriguing details, this must-see Rīga sight is in fact a…
0.3 MILES
Forming the centrepiece of Rīga’s skyline, this Gothic church is thought to be around 800 years old, making it one of the oldest medieval buildings in the…
0.91 MILES
A real-life house of horrors, this imposing fin de siècle building is remembered by generations of Latvians as the local headquarters of the notorious…
0.78 MILES
There is hardly a place in Latvia that can tell such a poignant and optimistic story as this quietly stunning memorial. Žanis Lipke saved over 50 Jews…
Rīga Ghetto & Latvian Holocaust Museum
0.84 MILES
The centrepiece of this arresting and challenging museum is a wooden house with a reconstructed flat, like those that Jews had to move into when the Nazis…
4.09 MILES
Between 1941 and 1944, the Nazis – aided by Latvians – shot more than 35,000 Jews at 55 different sites in this forest. It is one of several killing sites…
Museum of the Barricades of 1991
0.17 MILES
Latvia's independence came after enormous struggles. One of the most remarkable stories involves the barricades built by thousands of citizens around…
22.44 MILES
These striking pine-covered cliffs loom above a pristine white-sand beach dissected by a glistening stream. This is one of the most enchanting places…
Nearby Old Rīga attractions
0.04 MILES
Tallinn has its Three Sisters, so Rīga has dubbed three of its old stone houses the Three Brothers. These architectural gems conveniently line up in a…
0.05 MILES
Behind a row of granite heads depicting Latvia's most prominent artists, the imperial arsenal, constructed in 1832 to store weapons for the Russian tsar's…
0.08 MILES
Built into the city’s medieval walls in 1698 while the Swedes were in power, this arched gate is the only one left in Old Rīga. Set in the largest…
0.08 MILES
Rīga’s lavishly restored 1852 stock exchange building is a worthy showcase for the city's art treasures. The elaborate facade features a coterie of…
0.13 MILES
Founded in 1211 as the seat of the Rīga diocese, this enormous (once Catholic, now Evangelical Lutheran) cathedral is the largest medieval church in the…
0.13 MILES
Built in 1330 as the headquarters of the grand master of the Livonian Order, this building has been much mutated over the years and now only looks…
0.14 MILES
The entire north side of Torņa iela is flanked by the custard-coloured 18th-century Jacob’s Barracks, inhabited by cafes and boutiques.