One of the stone bridges that goes over the Riga City Canal. Photo by Nathan Greenhalgh/Baltic Reports
RIGA — One of my favorite things to do in Riga is to walk along the old City Canal, or the Pilsētas kanāls as you call it in Latvian, especially scenic this time of year.
The canal was originally a defensive moat that marks the lines of defensive walls that were knocked down under Tsarist Russian in the mid-1800s. About 3.2 km long, it winds through the middle of Riga. And if you start on its north end, you’ll meet the most unlikely of monuments.
A statue of Mirzo Ulugbek stands there. Who was he? Well, he was a [private_supervisor]medieval Persian enlightened sultan who studied astronomy and mathematics and was quite ahead of his time. But did he ever come to Latvia? No.
If you go further down on the western bank, you’ll see a strange Japanese tea house. Why here, you ask? Why not?
Then there’s a delightful stone bridge, the National Theater and a few other picturesque buildings and then you’re at the Bastion Hill or Bastejkalns, an artificial hill built up in the 1850s. It’s wooded and features numerous small walkways, gardens, creeks and fountains.
Then you can walk up to see the Freedom Monument, or continue down to the southern end of the canal which has more greenery, creeks and eventually an Japanese-inspired tea house.
Until October you can take a boat down the canal or just stroll along. The blossoms are in the trees, the weather is warm and the sun is often out — it’s as relaxing as it gets in this often tense city, and if you’ve got an Oriental fetish you can milk that, too.
Below is a video of the canal area, put together ably by the Latvija Tour Consultant Service.
[/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]medieval Persian enlightened sultan who studied astronomy and mathematics and was quite ahead of his time. But did he ever come to Latvia? No.
If you go further down on the western bank, you’ll see a strange Japanese tea house. Why here, you ask? Why not?
Then there’s a delightful stone bridge, the National Theater and a few other picturesque buildings and then you’re at the Bastion Hill or Bastejkalns, an artificial hill built up in the 1850s. It’s wooded and features numerous small walkways, gardens, creeks and fountains.
Then you can walk up to see the Freedom Monument, or continue down to the southern end of the canal which has more greenery, creeks and eventually an Japanese-inspired tea house.
Until October you can take a boat down the canal or just stroll along. The blossoms are in the trees, the weather is warm and the sun is often out — it’s as relaxing as it gets in this often tense city, and if you’ve got an Oriental fetish you can milk that, too.
Below is a video of the canal area, put together ably by the Latvija Tour Consultant Service.
[/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]medieval Persian enlightened sultan who studied astronomy and mathematics and was quite ahead of his time. But did he ever come to Latvia? No.
If you go further down on the western bank, you’ll see a strange Japanese tea house. Why here, you ask? Why not?
Then there’s a delightful stone bridge, the National Theater and a few other picturesque buildings and then you’re at the Bastion Hill or Bastejkalns, an artificial hill built up in the 1850s. It’s wooded and features numerous small walkways, gardens, creeks and fountains.
Then you can walk up to see the Freedom Monument, or continue down to the southern end of the canal which has more greenery, creeks and eventually an Japanese-inspired tea house.
Until October you can take a boat down the canal or just stroll along. The blossoms are in the trees, the weather is warm and the sun is often out — it’s as relaxing as it gets in this often tense city, and if you’ve got an Oriental fetish you can milk that, too.
Below is a video of the canal area, put together ably by the Latvija Tour Consultant Service.
[/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]medieval Persian enlightened sultan who studied astronomy and mathematics and was quite ahead of his time. But did he ever come to Latvia? No.
If you go further down on the western bank, you’ll see a strange Japanese tea house. Why here, you ask? Why not?
Then there’s a delightful stone bridge, the National Theater and a few other picturesque buildings and then you’re at the Bastion Hill or Bastejkalns, an artificial hill built up in the 1850s. It’s wooded and features numerous small walkways, gardens, creeks and fountains.
Then you can walk up to see the Freedom Monument, or continue down to the southern end of the canal which has more greenery, creeks and eventually an Japanese-inspired tea house.
Until October you can take a boat down the canal or just stroll along. The blossoms are in the trees, the weather is warm and the sun is often out — it’s as relaxing as it gets in this often tense city, and if you’ve got an Oriental fetish you can milk that, too.
Below is a video of the canal area, put together ably by the Latvija Tour Consultant Service.
[/private_subscription 1 year]
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