St. Peter's Church - Riga, Latvia
Posted by: Metro2
N 56° 56.843 E 024° 06.499
35V E 324118 N 6315249
St. Peter's Church, now a Lutheran Church was once a Roman Catholic Church.
Waymark Code: WMJXK7
Location: Latvia
Date Posted: 01/12/2014
Views: 20
Although no specific date is provided, Wikipedia's page for this church (
visit link) indicates that is was previously Catholic.
Apparently Latvia was one of the last areas in Europe to be Christianized in the 12th and 13th centuries. However, during the Protestant Restoration, most of the country became Lutheran. (
visit link)
The church is located in Riga's old town... and it's steeple can be seen from nearly all locations down town. The church charges an admission fee for tourists however.
Wikipedia (
visit link) further informs us:
"It is a parish church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia...
First mention of the St. Peter's Church is in records dating to 1209. The church was a masonry construction and therefore undamaged by a city fire in Riga that year. The history of the church can be divided into three distinct periods: two associated with Gothic and Romanesque building styles, the third with the early Baroque period. The middle section of the church was built during the 13th century, which encompasses the first period. The only remnants of this period are located in the outer nave walls and on the inside of a few pillars in the nave, around which larger pillars were later built.
Second period of constructionThe second period dates to 1408–09, when master builders Johannes Rumeschottel from Rostock supervised the construction of the sanctuary, based on the St. Mary's Church in Rostock. The sanctuary was almost finished by 1409, but due to the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War it was completed and dedicated only in 1419. Other construction work was interrupted by the plague in 1420 and resumed in the 1430's. The 13th century church was reconstructed in 1456–66 to conform to the newly built sanctuary. Both constructions were joined in the 1470's, thereby creating a mighty basilica with three aisles and ornate vaulted ceilings. The old bell tower was replaced in 1456, and a bell was hung in the new tower in 1477. A 136 metres (446 ft) octagonal steeple was added to the tower in 1491, which, along with the church's front facade, dominated the silhouette of Riga. The tower collapsed 11 March 1666, destroying a neighboring building and burying eight people in the rubble. The cornerstone for a new tower was laid 29 June 1667."