Riga

‘House of Hemp & Butter’

Appears in

Published 2021

About

Situated close to the mouth of the imposing Daugava River, Riga has long been a bustling trade centre (the first record of a harbour here dates back to the second century), and during the early Middle Ages it was a hub of Viking commerce. You could argue that the overall history of the city, a tale of one occupation after another, is encapsulated in its Museum of Occupations.

Officially founded in 1201 by Albert of Buxhoevden as the seat of his bishopric, Riga enjoyed a period of relative stability as a German Hanseatic city until 1581, when it was subsumed into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Just forty years afterwards, the Swedes took over, followed by the Russians less than a century later. For years to come, political power in Riga was in Russian hands, while economic might remained largely in the hands of German ‘Baltic Barons’.

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