Art Nouveau masterpieces in Riga

The tour is dedicated to the fantasies of Riga architects in the style of "Modern". Never before in the history of architecture have masters of different countries managed to express themselves so fully. Riga is also not left out of the new trends. Extraordinary forms and constructions of buildings, the latest materials, a variety of decor and dizzying ideas, came to Riga, unexpectedly transformed, revealing to the world a new style known as “Riga Art Nouveau”.

The first part of the tour will take place in Old Riga. Peacocks, sunshine, strange flowers, mysterious maidens and Masonic signs - this is what we will pay attention to! The houses, built in a short period from 1900 to 1915, resemble medieval castles, luxurious palaces, and can even tell a romantic tale.

New-fangled houses appeared both in Old Riga and outside the Boulevard Ring. The history of the creation of a whole quarter of the Art Nouveau (the museum has recently opened) is associated with the name of Mikhail Eisenstein, the father of the famous film director. There lived in Riga one moderately well-fed official. Everything is like people: rank and rank, awards, family, forty pairs of lacquered shoes, opera in the evenings. But there was something restless, creative about this man. He had a hobby, a very important one: architecture.

Eisenstein’s own ideas were not so much, but to embody others’ ideas, transforming them into masterpieces, the official was just brilliant. Its famous facades are drawn from samples in foreign magazines, architectural details can be found in the architectural masterpieces of Vienna and Leipzig. Screaming women and lions on rooftops, Gorgons - Viennese Art Nouveau. The facade on Elizabetes Street is an obvious borrowing of the project of Leipzig architects.

But the ability to place these details and their skillful execution, creating the right “mood” – the face of the house (funny or thoughtful) distinguishes Eisenstein from other authors. In our small town, the sculptural decor got a completely different sound. Moreover, the most famous houses are located within a few blocks.

Decorative modernity irritated many – among the opponents was even the son of the architect, the famous director Sergei Eisenstein. He was insulted by plaster women, different symbols - the illusion of family happiness, which was not in the family! Today, the “crazy cakemaker” is in honor: generations of tourists cannot admire the facades of his houses. Even indigenous Riga residents sometimes attract to the quiet street of Alberta to proud sphinxes and peacocks, Valkyries and lions, frozen against the blue sky.

Are you intrigued by the eternal mystery of real art?

Then we invite you to Riga - the metropolis of Art Nouveau! You will see examples of decorative Art Nouveau, buildings in the style of “national romanticism”, examples of Brussels and Leipzig Art Nouveau, the best houses in the neoclassical style. Considering the splendor of the facades, we will plunge into the world of Roman mythology, mysterious Scandinavian sagas and amazing German fairy tales.