Riga Central Market ( lv, Rīgas Centrāltirgus) is Europe's largest
market and
bazaar
A bazaar () or souk (; also transliterated as souq) is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, North Africa and India. However, temporary open markets elsewhere, suc ...
in
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 ...
,
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 is one of the most notable structures from 20th century in Latvia
and has been included in
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
list together with
Old Riga
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
* Old, Baranya, Hungary
* Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...
in 1998.
[ ] It was planned from 1922 and built from 1924 to 1930.
The main structures of the market are five pavilions constructed by reusing old German
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
hangars
and incorporating
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
and
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
styles.
The market is wide with more than 3,000 trade stands.
The
joint stock company
A joint-stock company is a business entity in which shares of the company's stock can be bought and sold by shareholders. Each shareholder owns company stock in proportion, evidenced by their shares (certificates of ownership). Shareholders are ...
''Rīgas Centrāltirgus'' is currently owned by the Riga municipality and the Chairman of the Board since 2010 is Anatolijs Abramovs.
Overview
Currently, due to the rise of supermarkets, the market is showing similar trends and is seen as a cheap shopping place in Riga,
however Riga City Council has expressed priority of preserving the market's mission and cultural value. The main goal of the company's Board of Directors is increase of customer flow throughout the market. They noted that among the problems is petty theft, customer deceit, and homeless people. Administration has determined to take tough measures on sellers that are deceiving customers. In 2009 market renovation plans were proposed and plans conceived in 2010. There are also future plans to join nearby
train
In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and Passenger train, transport people or Rail freight transport, freight. Trains are typically pul ...
and bus station into a single complex as well as increase selling of national produce.
History
Construction
Produce has been sold on the banks of Daugava since 1571 and in 1863 trade stand rows were built.
On December 18, 1922,
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 ...
decided to move the crowded and highly unsanitary
Daugavmala Market to a new enclosed location in conformity with hygienic and economic requirements. The market's plan was selected in an international competition. One of the highest prizes was received by Riga's architect
Pāvils Dreijmanis and engineer S. Žitkovs collaborative proposal to reuse metal frameworks from World War I German
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship named after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin () who pioneered rigid airship development at the beginning of the 20th century. Zeppelin's notions were first formulated in 1874Eckener 1938, pp ...
hangars Walhalla and Walther used in
Vaiņode Air Base
Vaiņode (also somewhere written as Vainodo, Vainede, Vaynede, Vaynodo, and Toyvanede) is a former USSR air base in Latvia, located south of Skrunda. It was abandoned in 1993. It is only from the border with Lithuania.
History
During World ...
. The initial large structure design was impractical due to their size and weather conditions and the new buildings only used the top parts of the hangar design. The buildings themselves were constructed from stone and reinforced concrete.
The construction started in June 1924 and finished in autumn 1930, taking seven years instead of planned five as construction halted during 1926–1928
due to financial problems.
The development was overseen by the city council's marketing department head Klāvs Lorencs.
The overseeing architects were Pāvils Dreijmanis and P. Pavlovs together with engineers V. Isajevs and G. Tolstojs.
The construction was carried out by stock company "Construction" ( lv, a/s "Būve") and market's construction office under the supervision of V. Isajevs.
Riga paid nearly 5 million
roubles
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
to the state property commission. This was at the time the biggest project in Europe spanning . Five pavilions were envisioned with the largest hangar for wholesale and meat processing and smaller ones for retail. Four of them are located side by side and the biggest, fifth, was built perpendicular to them. All buildings had modern central heating and electric lighting. The complex was built in
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style. A wide basement was built under the hangars for storage. Up to of goods could be stored in the 27 freezers in 1938. In 1961, during Soviet time, almost of goods could be stored. The products were moved topside with cranes without disturbing traffic and sellers. The basement has three tunnels connecting to the adjacent river bank. Retail sales began November 10, 1930, the same day Daugavmala Market closed. Even before the opening, hangars were used for various expositions and shows during the first half of the year.
Although the Central Market was three times the size of the Daugavmala Market, the majority of space was occupied by offices, warehouses and basements. The rent per square meters exceeded that of other markets and locations. Retail sellers could not afford the rent and wholesale merchants could not place their workers. This gave rise to high prices. This was solved by making an open-air roofed porch, with a 170 horse team capacity. In 1938 a separate horse stable opened. In 1936 the most modern bird slaughterhouse in the state opened.
Juris Dambis, head of the State Inspection for Heritage Protection, says "When Riga Central Market was first opened on November 2, 1930, it was the largest and the most progressive marketplace on earth."
During the 1930s the market pavilions were one of the main tourist attractions. A wide and cheap array of produce was available for
degustation
Dégustation is the careful, appreciative tasting of various food, focusing on the gustatory system, the senses, high culinary art and good company. Dégustation is more likely to involve sampling small portions of all of a chef's signature dishe ...
. Tourists from Germany and England highly appreciated the butter and bacon. The fish pavilion was especially attractive with large, colourful aquariums. The large number of tourists furthered the Central Markets reputation as one of the more grandiose buildings in Europe.
During occupations
The market was not affected by the first
Soviet occupation in 1940. However, the
Nazi German occupation lasted for three and a half years. Farmers were not allowed to freely sell their produce and were forced to supply the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
and the market sold only limited amounts. Beginning September 1, 1941, food cards were required for purchase. During these years first roof repairs were carried out on May 30, 1942. The market's territory was readjusted to be suitable for war times. The two pavilions closest to the
Daugava
, be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna
, image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png
, image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava
, source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia
, mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...
were converted into housing the German 726th supply unit's vehicle engine repair shop. A fire hazardous lumber storage was set nearby to necessitate
Opel
Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...
. Three repair shop office barracks were planned, but only one was active prior to the
1944 Soviet Union occupation.
During the Soviet occupation, the market was renamed Central Kolkhoz Market ( lv, Centrālais Kolhozu tirgus) in 1949.
The Soviet press praised the market as one of the best markets in the Soviet Union. In 1950 nine out of ten farms were unified in
kolkhoz
A kolkhoz ( rus, колхо́з, a=ru-kolkhoz.ogg, p=kɐlˈxos) was a form of collective farm in the Soviet Union. Kolkhozes existed along with state farms or sovkhoz., a contraction of советское хозяйство, soviet ownership or ...
es during the agriculture collectivisation and by 1961 the majority of goods were supplied collectively by 60 kolkhozes. Daily about 50-70 thousand customers shopped at the market — up to 100 thousand during weekends. 1961 market statistics showed sells of of poultry, of milk, about 7 million eggs, and more than of vegetables and fruits.
In the 1980s the market's ammonia based refrigerating plants were replaced with freon machinery. The low-pressure steam heating system was swapped with a connection to the city's central heating system.
In 1983 the fruit and vegetable pavilion caught fire, which spread to
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
insulation and lasted for tens of hours.
In 1987 rat problems were solved in the market.
Heritage
On October 18, 1983, the
Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic
The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...
's Council of Ministers announced the market as a cultural heritage site. Shortly after Latvia regained independence 1991, market director Leonīds Lapoško showed that the market was in dire condition, especially underground. On January 3, 1995, the city council established stock company Riga Central Market ( lv, a/s Rīgas Centrāltirgus). In the next half year it merged with Riga Market Company ( lv, Rīgas tirgus) to form a combined location between the central market's pavilions and outside street bazaar. In August 1998 Riga City Council rented the outside market territory until 2045.
In 1998 the market territory, together with
Old Riga
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
* Old, Baranya, Hungary
* Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, M ...
, were included in the
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
list.
The market's pavilions are five of nine Zeppelin hangars remaining in the world.
On January 15, 2019, the reconstructed Gastronomy Pavilion, which had been closed since the fall of 2016, was opened. The renovation of the gastronomy pavilion cost about 1.7 million euros.
Architecture
The architecture was influenced by practical need as well as
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...
. The Zeppelin hangars gave the pavilions their look and only certain parts could be accented with
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style.
References
External links
Riga Central Market
Pictures from Riga Central MarketView of the Riga Central Market (WebCam) balticlivecam.com
{{Authority control
Central Market Central Market may refer to:
*Central Market, a 2009 album by Tyondai Braxton
Fresh food markets
* Adelaide Central Market, Australia
* Cardiff Central Market, Wales
*Central Market, Hong Kong
* Central Market, Casablanca, Morocco
* Riga Central ...
Economy of Riga
Retail markets in Riga
History of Riga
Art Deco architecture
Commercial buildings completed in 1930
1930 establishments in Latvia