Lions on rooftops, dragons around doorways and entire façades dripping with theatrical flair — Riga’s art nouveau district is one of Europe’s most extraordinary architectural showcases.
Mikhail Eisenstein and Alberta iela 4
Mikhail Eisenstein, it is fair to say, didn’t believe in keeping it simple.
At the top of the apartment building where he once lived are two lions, facing in opposite directions as if on guard.
Below them are three different styles of windows — some keyhole-shaped, one giant one looking like a toadstool cap, and others like the letter T.
Meanwhile, all over the façade at Alberta iela 4 is fiddly, expressive decoration.
Dragons flank the doorway, a trio of Gorgons form a crest at the top, faces with Egyptian-esque headdresses and wings mix in with forest motifs and gliding, curving lines across the iron balconies.
Riga’s showiest art nouveau buildings
Riga’s master of art nouveau was hardly prolific.
Eisenstein was an engineer by profession, and only worked on 15 to 20 buildings, depending on who you ask.
But he sure threw everything at those he did make, and ten of them are clustered in the Latvian capital’s Quiet Centre just north of the Old Town.
Elsewhere, Eisenstein’s decorative excess includes an entirely superfluous row of false windows at the top of Alberta iela 2, interspersed with carved heads that look somewhere between Roman legionnaire and woodland nymph.
There are also giant faces curving round corners plus delicate blue tile work at Elizabetes iela 10a, and panpipe-playing satyrs carved onto torch-like columns at Alberta iela 13.
Like Gaudí, Hundertwasser and Mackintosh
Like Gaudí in Barcelona, Hundertwasser in Vienna or Mackintosh in Glasgow, Eisenstein has put a supersized auteur’s imprint on his city.
But what’s really remarkable about Riga’s art nouveau architecture is that he’s just the showiest of many.
Why Riga has 800+ art nouveau buildings
On a walking tour around the Quiet Centre, Guna Krumina, owner-guide of Riga Trips, explains that the city boomed at the beginning of the 20th century.
An exhibition held in 1901 for the 700th anniversary of the city’s founding brought in people from across Europe when art nouveau was the height of fashion.
New apartments were needed to house Riga’s rapidly expanding population and there was a lot of money sloshing around.
So, in a short space of time, Riga ended up with more than 800 art nouveau buildings, largely because it was the in-style of the boom period.
National romanticism in Riga
It also led to a deviation from the styles found elsewhere in Europe.
Eisenstein went one way, with whole hog flamboyance, but others went down a route that became known as national romanticism.
“It was developed by Latvian architects, incorporated elements from traditional Latvian buildings, and showed Latvian flora and fauna,” says Guta.
The detailing is much more subdued, but arguably has space to breathe because of that.
Guta points towards steep, gabled red roofs — common in vernacular Baltic architecture — as well as images of kings from Latvian fairy tales, or lynxes, bears and squirrels.
Around a quarter of Riga’s mammoth art nouveau collection is done in this style, and the buildings act as gentle album tracks in-between Eisenstein’s all-energy anthems.
Inside the Riga Art Nouveau Museum
The city’s Riga Art Nouveau Museum, housed in one of the most swaggering art nouveau buildings, dives even further into the individual architects and the sweep of the style across Riga.
It’s cleverly done with videos and touch screens, but the highlight is the apartment done out in period style.
This acts as a reminder that art nouveau wasn’t just limited to exteriors.
The staggering stained glass bay window brims with plants and ululating flower pattern curtains.
The grandfather clock has leaves and acorns carved into it.
Display cabinets give off a full Midsummer Night’s Dream vibe.
It’s a vision a world away from what most would imagine a Baltic capital to look like.
But it’s arguably a look that Riga does better than anywhere else on earth.
Things to do nearby in Riga
- Riga Old Town: Medieval streets, cathedral squares and Hanseatic-era architecture.
- House of the Black Heads: Ornate guild building in Town Hall Square.
- Freedom Monument: Latvia’s national symbol and ceremonial focal point.
- Bastejkalna Park: Canal-side green space linking the Old Town and Quiet Centre.
- Latvian National Museum of Art: Major collection of Baltic and Latvian art.
Riga Art Nouveau FAQs
| Why is Riga famous for art nouveau architecture? | Riga experienced a major economic boom in the early 20th century, resulting in more than 800 art nouveau buildings being constructed. |
| Where are the best art nouveau buildings in Riga? | The highest concentration is in the Quiet Centre, particularly along Alberta iela and Elizabetes iela. |
| Who was Mikhail Eisenstein? | An engineer and architect known for Riga’s most flamboyant and decorative art nouveau façades. |
| What is national romanticism in Riga? | A Latvian variation of art nouveau incorporating traditional Baltic architecture and local flora and fauna motifs. |
| Is the Riga Art Nouveau Museum worth visiting? | Yes, especially for its period apartment interior and detailed explanation of the city’s architectural boom. |
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