The Cat House ( lv, Kaķu nams) is a building situated at 10 Meistaru iela in the

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, the capital of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. It was built in 1909 according to the

blueprint A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing or engineering drawing using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced by Sir John Herschel in 1842, the process allowed rapid and accurate production of an unlimited number ...

of architect Friedrich Scheffel. The building is styled as

medieval architecture Medieval architecture is architecture common in the Middle Ages, and includes religious, civil, and military buildings. Styles include pre-Romanesque, Romanesque, and Gothic. While most of the surviving medieval architecture is to be seen in c ...

with some elements of

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

. It is known for the two

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

sculptures, with arched backs and raised tails, on its roof. It is said that the owner of the house wanted the cats to be placed with their tails turned towards the house of the Great Guild, which is nearby, as he held a grudge against its members. It was later ordered that the cats should be turned so as to face the guildhouse.

Legend of the cats

The

legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

known by most Rigans, which is also told to tourists, comes in at least two versions. One version of the legend has it that the wealthy tradesman who commissioned the building was refused membership of the Riga Tradesmen's Guild, mostly just called the Great Guild. The central element of both versions is the

anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...

that seeking retribution the tradesman had two

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

statues of angry-looking cats with arched backs and raised tails placed on the

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

rooftops with their tails turned towards the house of the Great Guild, situated across the street. The other and perhaps older version of the cat legend has it that the wealthy tradesman placed the two statues of angry-looking cats on the building turret rooftops with their tails towards the Riga Town Hall, following a dispute with

Riga City Council Riga City Council ( lv, Rīgas dome) is the government of the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall (''Rīgas rātsnams)'' at the Town Hall Square (''Rātslaukums'') in the very heart of Riga. The Riga C ...

, after which he encouraged the erection of the building. The Riga Town Hall at the time was in the same direction as the Great Guild, but it burned down during World War II, was demolished in 1954 and only rebuilt in the very same place between 2000 and 2001.

References

External links

* {{Coord, 56, 57, 0.67, N, 24, 6, 30.33, E, region:LV-RIX_type:landmark, display=title Houses completed in 1909 Buildings and structures in Riga Art Nouveau architecture in Riga Art Nouveau apartment buildings

Legend of the cats

See also

References

External links