Riga’s Nativity of Christ Cathedral is an Orthodox church with Neo-Byzantine domes and patterned brickwork. Built in the nineteenth century, it was converted into a planetarium under Soviet rule and later restored for worship.
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Riga’s Nativity of Christ Cathedral rises from the Esplanade with a group of gilded domes. It is an active Orthodox place of worship, but for decades its interior served a very different purpose: a planetarium projected stars inside a building whose crosses had been removed. The contrast is part of the cathedral’s twentieth-century history, as well as a story of a community recovering its sacred space.
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UpgradeQuick facts
- The cathedral was built between 1876 and 1884 to a design by Robert Pflug.
- During Soviet rule the building was converted into a House of Knowledge with a planetarium.
- Orthodox worship returned in 1991, followed by restoration.
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