Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation ( lv, Rīgas vēstures un kuģniecības muzejs) is housed by the Riga Dom Cathedral ensemble in the heart of the Old Riga, Latvia. It originated in 1773 as a private collection of Nikolaus von Himsel, a Riga doctor and, being one of the oldest museums in

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, over the centuries it has grown into the largest collection of material evidence of the history of Riga.

The Premises

During the reconstruction of the Riga Dom Cathedral in the 1890s, part of the former

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

was converted to serve the needs of the Dom Museum. It is the first building in the history of Riga to have been built for a museum, and the inscription on the museum front bears testimony to this. Within the premises there is the Column Hall, built in 1778 in the

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...

style, which housed the library until 1891. The hall is now being used for conferences and a historical 18th—19th centuries exhibition. The Column Hall faces the 13th century

groin vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Lau ...

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and the Riga Dom Cathedral yard, a remarkable Romanesque and Gothic monument of the kind in the Baltic states. The Riga Dom Cathedral ensemble itself is an aesthetic treat that provides information about different periods in the construction of Riga.

Exhibitions

The museum exhibitions show the development of Riga from the ancient villages of Riga, to the ancient port in the 12th—13th century, to the period of the Hansa League in the 13th—16th centuries, then to Polish and Swedish rule in the 16th—17th centuries. The museum offers a unique exhibition of the life of citizens of Riga during the first period of Latvian independence from 1918—1940, as well as an opportunity to trace the history of Latvian

navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...

from ancient times to our days. The collections comprise ancient

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

s with views of Riga,

map A map is a symbolic depiction emphasizing relationships between elements of some space, such as objects, regions, or themes. Many maps are static, fixed to paper or some other durable medium, while others are dynamic or interactive. Although ...

s, plans,

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

ship model Ship models or model ships are scale models of ships. They can range in size from 1/6000 scale wargaming miniatures to large vessels capable of holding people. Ship modeling is a craft as old as shipbuilding itself, stretching back to ancien ...

navigational instrument Navigational instruments are instruments used by nautical navigators and pilots as tools of their trade. The purpose of navigation is to ascertain the present position and to determine the speed, direction, etc. to arrive at the port or point o ...

s, a rich collection of objects for everyday use, clothing, decorative items and other things totalling half a million items. In addition to the navigational exhibits, the museum's permanent and temporary exhibitions, as well as its collections, provide information about the history of Riga from the earliest times to the present day.

Gallery

File:Museum History Riga Navigation D.jpg, Column Hall of the museum File:Museum History Riga Navigation B.jpg, Exhibition window with items from the period of the Hanseatic League File:Museum History Riga Navigation I.jpg, Navigation history exhibition

External links

Museum website
{{Authority control Museums in Riga City museums Maritime museums in Latvia Museums established in 1773 History museums in Latvia