Vecrīga is Riga’s historic Old Town on the Daugava’s right bank, a district of streets, squares and buildings shaped by centuries of trade, rebuilding and civic life.
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Vecrīga, or Old Riga, is the historic town on the right bank of the Daugava. Its lanes connect church towers, public squares and former merchant buildings, but the district is larger than any one landmark. Walking between them gives a sense of how trade, worship and civic life occupied the same compact urban fabric. The map point represents the district, not a single entrance.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- Old Riga is one part of the larger UNESCO-listed Historic Centre of Riga.
- Riga was a member of the Hanseatic League and developed as a Baltic trading centre.
- The city’s defensive ramparts were removed in the nineteenth century.
More places in Riga
10b Elizabetes Street
Elizabetes iela 10b is a 1903 Riga apartment building designed by Mikhail Eisenstein. Its blue upper façade, enormous sculpted faces and ornamental patterns show how published European design ideas were adapted into a distinctive Art Nouveau street front.
11 November Embankment
Riga’s 11 November Embankment follows the right bank of the Daugava beside Old Riga, combining a busy riverside route with a long history of trade and public gatherings.
1991 Barricades Museum
The 1991 Barricades Museum preserves objects, photographs and testimony from Latvia’s independence struggle. In Old Riga, its collection traces the volunteers who defended important sites and remembers those killed or injured during the January and August events.
4a Strēlnieku Street
The richly ornamented 1905 design at Strēlnieku iela 4a is associated with architect Mikhail Eisenstein. Originally combining a school and residences, it later housed a dormitory and now serves the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.
AB Jetty
AB Jetty extends from the left bank of the Daugava in Riga, offering a walking route and views across the river towards the towers of the Old Town.
Āgenskalns Market
Āgenskalns Market is a neighbourhood food market on Riga’s left bank, centred on a red-brick hall designed by Reinhold Georg Schmaeling. Established at this site in 1898, it reopened its restored pavilion in 2022 with food sellers, cafés and community activities.