Dailes Theatre is a Latvian repertory company founded by Eduards Smiļģis in 1920. Its present modernist home on Brīvības iela opened in 1977, after a long design and construction process led by architect Marta Staņa.
Guide preview
In 1977 Dailes Theatre’s actors marked a move across Riga with a parade from their old home to their new one. The destination was the large modern theatre on Brīvības iela 75. Its open, geometric form expressed an ambitious idea of what a theatre could be, but the institution performing inside had begun more than half a century earlier.
Unlock the full guide with a travel pass.
Quick facts
- Eduards Smiļģis founded Dailes Theatre in 1920.
- Marta Staņa and Tekla Ieviņa submitted the competition design selected for development.
- The company moved to Brīvības iela 75 in 1977.
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.