Riga, the Paris of the Baltic States

Another wish was fulfilled when I visited Riga recently. This city is the capital of Latvia and its largest city. It is also  the second largest city in  Eastern Baltic but the largest city of the Baltic States. It is also dubbed as the "Paris of the Baltics". I believed it is because of its setting.

Not many people especially who are not from Europe are quite not familiar with the Baltic States, also known as the Baltic Countries or simply Baltics.

 Let me introduce this part of Europe first. If you have to look at the map of Europe, the Baltic States are on the boundary of Russia, Poland and Belarus. These are actually the countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. They are the territories east of Baltic Sea which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I.

Let's go back to Riga. Like any other cities in Europe, you can see a lot of historical old buildings in this city. Many of these have been restored and repaired. It is home to the largest concentration of Jugendstil or German Art Nouveau architecture in the world. This is one of the reasons why Riga is becoming popular to many tourists  not only in Europe but worldwide as well.

The Tower of St. Peter's Church in Riga. I was there!

Among the interesting sights you can visit in Riga  is located mostly in the Old Town. The Statue of Roland, the House of Blackheads, Museum of the Occupation of Latvia, Town Hall, St. Peter's Church are among the few ones. The Riga Cathedral, Riga Castle, the House of the Three Brothers, the Freedom are also worth to see.

The Blackhead's House in Riga, Latvia. I had the chance to visit  this city  last Sept. 30- Oct. 1, 2012.