Impressive architecture of Riga. Photo

Riga beautiful.

Jugendstil or art Nouveau, or art Nouveau was popular in Europe in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries As an architectural style, art Nouveau quite diverse – it varies from city to city. Entrance halls of the Paris metro, Casa batlló authorship Gaudi in Barcelona, the Moscow hotel “Metropol” – all examples of art Nouveau. But the greatest concentration of architecture in this style is famous for Riga – the Riga Central street is dotted with buildings with intricate floral decorations, masks women and moldings in the form of dragons and other mythical creatures.

The movement art Nouveau emerged in the 1890s. The basic principle of this style was the idea that art should be a part of everything.

The building on albert street, built according to a design by Mikhail Eisenstein.

Inspired by nature and its forms of revolutionary art style began to be applied in painting, sculpture, illustrations, jewellery, interior design, and, above all, in architecture. The style first appeared in England, and soon spread throughout Europe and the United States. Although this style was called differently in different countries, were mainly adopted the name art Nouveau, art Nouveau or Jugendstil.

The building at Smilsu street, 2 built on the project of Konstantin Peksens, 1902.

The building on albert street, built according to a design by Mikhail Eisenstein. Although it is very popular with tourists, such a very ornate sort of art Nouveau is not typical for Riga. A good example of the Riga art Nouveau architecture that combines rationality and decor. The project of this building on the street Smilshu developed Konstantin Pēkšēns.

The stairs in the house on albert street.

The popularity of art Nouveau began to fall in 1910, but examples of this fine architectural form still remains one of the most popular among tourists across Europe. Brussels, Barcelona, Paris, Vienna… in all these cities have many famous buildings in the art Nouveau style. However, in Europe there is a city where you can find the world’s largest collection of art Nouveau buildings. This Riga.

Detail of decorations on the house. Project Konstantin Peksens, 1908.

The capital of Latvia was founded in 1201 and is the largest city in the Baltic States. Lives in Riga about one third of the population of Latvia, and the centre of this beautiful city was inscribed on the world heritage list of UNESCO.

Detail of the building, the project Jean-Pierre Daver, Paris.

Literally overflowing examples of art Nouveau and wooden architecture of the XIX century, Riga is attracting more and more visitors every year, mainly because of the cheap flights to Latvia from other European cities.

The Bank in Riga, the project of Paul Mandelstam, 1913.

Only in Riga you can count about 800 buildings in the art Nouveau style. That impressive number is the result of economic and demographic boom that Riga experienced in the late XIX — early XX century. And it was at this time at the peak of popularity was the art Nouveau style.

The building at Alberta street 12.

The extension of Riga led to the demolition of the old buildings that surrounded the medieval city center, and construction of new buildings, boulevards and gardens. Rich residents used their savings to build a magnificent building, while local architects adopted the European style which was popular at the time.

The balcony of one of the buildings in the art Nouveau style.

In this case, it was the art Nouveau style. Most of the buildings were built in the Central part of the city, as well as several examples of art Nouveau appeared in Riga’s Old town. Almost half of the art Nouveau buildings in the city were created by architects Mikhail Eisenstein and Konstantin Pekshens.

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