Riga Dome Cathedral

Riga Dome Cathedral is the cathedral of the city of Riga, its symbol and one of the main attractions. It is the largest medieval temple in the Baltic countries. The name of the cathedral comes from the Latin expressions - 'Domus Dei' ('House of God') and 'D.O. M. ' (short for Deo Optimo Maximo, 'All-Merciful Greatest God'). Currently - the main church building of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia.

The cathedral was founded on July 25, 1211, on St. Jacob's Day, by the Bishop of Riga Albert Buxgewden. The bishop watched its construction with the most close attention, investing huge funds in the construction. The construction was supervised by experienced craftsmen, mostly Germans. Construction dragged on until the second half of the 13th century and, in general terms, was completed only in 1270. The original building of the Dome Cathedral was an example of the so-called transitional style - from Romanesque to Northern Gothic. In 1524, during the Reformation, the original decoration of the church was lost, and a fire in 1547 completed the destruction. Of the planned two towers, due to lack of funds in 1547, only one was built in the center of the facade. In 1595, the stone tower was built on and received a wooden spire.

However, the wooden spire required constant renovation, so in 1766 it was dismantled. Instead a low domed spire in the Baroque style was erected on a somewhat rebuilt tower. The total height of the tower with a baroque dome and a cockerel on the spire was 96 meters. The interior of the church that has survived to this day is made in the Gothic style, and the main elements of the decoration are in the Baroque style. Numerous reconstructions have led to the fact that in the architecture of the cathedral, various architectural styles are surprisingly intertwined. The northern portal of the church, the former main entrance, has been preserved from the Gothic period of construction. In addition to the Gothic and Baroque, the architectural decoration of the cathedral contains fragments in the Renaissance and Romanesque styles.

Since the 1980s, the cathedral has been undergoing restoration. In 1991 the cathedral was transferred to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia. The full-scale restoration work of the Dome Cathedral and the adjacent monastery, financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church, began in 2011. The main attraction of the Dome is its organ, which was installed in 1883-1884. The impressive organ with a height of 25 meters includes 6768 pipes (according to other sources - 6718), metal and wooden, with a length of 13 mm to 10 m. The attractions of the cathedral also include a memorial the stone of small guilds (19th century), baroque carvings (around 1641) and the grave of the first bishop of Livonia, Meinhard von Segeberg.