Alberta Street brings Riga’s Art Nouveau architecture together in a short residential street. Its elaborate façades, designed by several architects, reward close looking; the former home of artist Janis Rozentāls adds a story of everyday creative life.
Guide preview
At Alberta iela 8, a lion’s head emerges high on the façade above rows of expressive faces. Nearby buildings offer different masks, plants, animals and geometric patterns. Alberta Street is short, but its Art Nouveau façades make it a richly layered walk through Riga’s early twentieth-century ambitions.
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Quick facts
- Much of the street was built between 1901 and 1908.
- Mikhail Eisenstein designed the richly decorated 1903 building at Alberta iela 8.
- Artist Janis Rozentāls and singer Elli Forssell lived at number 12 from 1904 to 1915.
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