Latvia

The largest medieval church in the Baltic states, whose foundation stone was laid in 1211 by the first Bishop of Riga, combining Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque architecture with a 90-meter spire built in 1776. The cathedral is renowned for its 6,718-pipe Walcker organ, inaugurated on January 31, 1884 as the largest organ in the world at that time. Today it serves as the seat of the Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia within the Old Town inscribed by UNESCO in 1997.

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Historic Centre of Riga, 1997)Herdera laukums 6, Rīga, LV-1050 (quảng trường Doma laukums, phố cổ)

Photo: Ryzhkov Sergey, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The foremost Roman Catholic pilgrimage sanctuary of Latvia and the Baltic region situated beside Lake Ciriss in Latgale, founded in 1699 by Dominican friars and rebuilt in whitewashed Late Baroque brick between 1768 and 1780 with twin 60-meter bell towers, housing the miraculous seventeenth-century Icon of Our Lady of Aglona and drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every August 15.

Papal Minor Basilica (proclaimed by Pope John Paul II on October 28, 1980), International Catholic Pilgrimage Shrine, and Architectural Monument of National Significance of the Republic of LatviaCirisa Street 8, Aglona, Preili Municipality, Latgale Region, LV-5304, Republic of Latvia

Photo: Mikauss, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The largest Orthodox cathedral in the Baltic states rising in Esplanade Park at the heart of Riga, constructed between 1876 and 1884 in Neo-Byzantine style after the design of architect Robert Pflug with five gilded domes and striped yellow-and-terracotta brickwork, celebrated for its iconostasis paintings by Vasily Vereshchagin and the enshrined relics of Saint John (Pommers) of Riga.

Central Cathedral of the Latvian Orthodox Church and Protected Monument within the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Riga (inscribed 1997, Ref. 852)Brivibas Boulevard 23 (Esplanade Park), Central District, LV-1050 Riga, Republic of Latvia

Photo: Nenea hartia, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The monumental Brick Gothic parish church of Old Riga first recorded in 1209 and the cradle of the Protestant Reformation in Livonia in 1522, renowned for its tiered 123.25-meter Baroque spire crowned by a gilded weathercock designed by Rupert Bindenschu in 1690 as the tallest wooden structure of its era and faithfully reconstructed in steel between 1954 and 1973 after wartime destruction.

Architectural Monument of National Significance of the Republic of Latvia, Landmark of the European Route of Brick Gothic, and Core Monument of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Riga (inscribed 1997, Ref. 852)Reformacijas Square 1 (Skarnu Street 19), Old Town (Vecriga), LV-1050 Riga, Republic of Latvia

Photo: JopkeB, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

The sole synagogue in Riga to survive the Nazi destruction of July 1941 and the active spiritual center of Latvian Jewry, constructed between 1903 and 1905 in the medieval heart of Old Riga by master architect Wilhelm Neumann and Hermann Seuberlich in an extraordinary fusion of Riga Art Nouveau (Jugendstil) and Neo-Egyptian architectural motifs.

Central Synagogue of the Riga Jewish Community, Architectural Monument of National Significance of the Republic of Latvia, and Protected Monument within the UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Riga (inscribed 1997, Ref. 852)Peitavas Street 6 to 8, Old Town (Vecriga), LV-1050 Riga, Republic of Latvia

Photo: Rakoon, CC0, Wikimedia Commons