Brīvības iela is the central street of Riga, the capital of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It is more than 12 km long, going through all of Riga from the historical centre to the outskirts.

History

The street was the beginning of an important trade route - the road to the region of

Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Riga, is situated in the southwestern part of the region. Literally meaning "the Middle Land", it is situated in ...

(Southern

Swedish Livonia Swedish Livonia ( sv, Svenska Livland) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1629 until 1721. The territory, which constituted the southern part of modern Estonia (including the island of Ösel ceded by Denmark after the Treaty of Bröm ...

) and the Russian city of

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...

. It began with what is today Smilšu iela and went through Riga's suburbs. The city entrance next to the

Powder Tower A powder tower (german: Pulverturm), occasionally also powder house (''Pulverhaus''), was a building used by the military or by mining companies, frequently a tower, to store gunpowder or, later, explosives. They were common until the 20th c ...

was initially the main entrance to Riga from the countryside. As the city expanded, the city gates moved more towards the east and the street was extended further. In the late 19th century and early 20th various

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

buildings were erected on what now is Brīvības iela. Throughout its history, the street and its three main parts were known as ''Große Sandstraße'' (before 1818), ''Aleksandrovskaya ulitsa (Александровская улица)''/''Alexanderstraße'' (1818-1923), ''Brīvības gatve'' (1923-1942, 1944-1950), '' Adolf-Hitler-Straße'' (1942-1944) and ''Ļeņina iela'' (1950-1991). Today, Brīvības iela is divided into three parts: *Brīvības bulvāris (boulevard) is the traditional name of the part from its beginning at the Freedom Monument to Elizabetes iela (572 m); *Brīvības iela from Elizabetes iela to Gaisa tilts bridge (3049 m); *Brīvības gatve from Gaisa tilts bridge to the city border (8450 m).

Notable buildings

Brīvības bulvāris

File:Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Riga.jpg, Nativity Cathedral, main

Russian Orthodox Russian Orthodoxy (russian: Русское православие) is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, whose liturgy is or was traditionally conducted in Church Slavonic language. Most ...

cathedral of Riga File:Gabinete de Ministerios de Letonia, Riga, Letonia, 2012-08-07, DD 01.JPG, Palace of Justice, seat of the

Government of Latvia 200px, Meeting room of the Government of Latvia in the Palace of Justice The Government of Latvia is the central government of the Republic of Latvia. The Constitution of Latvia ( lv, Satversme) outlines the nation as a parliamentary republic ...

and

Supreme Court of Latvia The Supreme Court of the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republikas Augstākā tiesa) or the Senate of Latvia (''Latvijas Senāts'') is the highest level court in the three-tiered court system of Latvia. It deals with criminal, civil and admini ...

File:Consejo de Abogados Letones, Riga, Letonia, 2012-08-07, DD 01.JPG, Riga Regional Court

Brīvības iela

File:Aleksandra Ņevska pareizticīgo baznīca - panoramio.jpg, Number 56 - St. Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox Church, built in 1825 File:2017-07-29-Corner house in Riga-JonasR.jpg, Number 61 - '' Corner House'', former building of the KGB of the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent Republics of the Soviet Union, republics. Th ...

during the second Soviet occupation of Latvia; initially built as a residential house in 1911 File:Brīvības iela 33, Rīga, Latvia - panoramio.jpg, Brīvības iela 33 File:Brīvības iela 137.JPG, Brīvības iela 137, former A. Leutner Bicycle Works File:St. Gertrude New Church, Riga.JPG, St. Gertrude New Church File:Immeuble art nouveau (Riga) (7573888878).jpg, Number 99 - residential house by architect Mikhail Eisenstein, father of Soviet filmmaker

Sergei Eisenstein Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (russian: Сергей Михайлович Эйзенштейн, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ ɪjzʲɪnˈʂtʲejn, 2=Sergey Mikhaylovich Eyzenshteyn; 11 February 1948) was a Soviet film director, scree ...

; 1905 *

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

lived in 1838 - 1839 in a house at the intersection of Brīvības iela and Dzirnavu iela (Mühlenstraße). The house was destroyed but its location is now marked with a memorial plaque. * Number 34 - Building of the Riga Regional Court designed by

Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis (or ''Johann Friedrich Baumann'', May 23, 1834, Riga – March 19, 1891, Riga) was a Latvian, Baltic German architect. He was first professional Latvian architect. Baumanis designed the Riga Circus in 1888. He was respon ...

(1888) * Number 75 - Dailes Theatre, formerly State Academic Theatre of the Latvian SSR; 1976

Brīvības gatve

File:VEF 22-10-2016 (1).jpg, Historical building of VEF featuring a statue of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

holding a

thunderbolt A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hel ...

in the middle File:Palace of Culture VEF factory. Riga. 01.jpg, The VEF

Palace of Culture Palace of Culture (russian: Дворец культуры, dvorets kultury, , ''wénhuà gōng'', german: Kulturpalast) or House of Culture (Polish: ''dom kultury'') is a common name ( generic term) for major club-houses (community centres) in t ...

File:VEF Kultūras pils pēc atjaunošanas.jpg, The VEF

after restoration in 2019

External links

{{Authority control Streets in Riga