Esplanade (Riga)
The Esplanade (Latvian: Esplanāde ) is a spacious park in the eastern center of the Latvian capital Riga .
The square was used as a parade ground for the tsarist troops stationed in Riga until 1812. In the Middle Ages this area was outside the city fortifications and was a wasteland criss-crossed by sand dunes .
In search of a suitable exhibition site for the 700th anniversary of Riga, the site was acquired by the city administration and landscaped. Until the First World War , the area near the city was framed by the expansion of the eastern suburbs and partially used for public buildings. The Latvian Art Academy , the State Art Museum and the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ (Riga) are located here .
Several memorials to important figures of Latvian art have been erected in the park area, including the Rainis memorial to the writer Jānis Pliekšāns (known as Rainis) . The park is also home to the Barclay de Tolly Monument and the Kalpaks Monument .
On October 29, 1998, the park was entered in the Latvian register of monuments under the number 7863 .
literature
- Jochen Könnecke, Vladislav Rubzov: Latvia . In: DuMont art travel guide . DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2005, ISBN 3-7701-6386-9 , Neustadt and Boulevardring, p. 82-85 .
Web links
Coordinates: 56 ° 57 ′ 14 ″ N , 24 ° 6 ′ 50 ″ E