St James's Cathedral (, ) is the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. The cathedral is dedicated to

Saint James the Greater James the Great ( Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles t ...

. The building is part of the

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, Mai ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

and lies directly opposite the House of the Livonian Noble Corporation, the meeting place of Latvia's parliament the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the p ...

. The church is sometimes called St. Jacob's. English, unlike most languages, uses different names for the Old Testament name

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

and the New Testament name

James James may refer to: People * James (given name) * James (surname) * James (musician), aka Faruq Mahfuz Anam James, (born 1964), Bollywood musician * James, brother of Jesus * King James (disambiguation), various kings named James * Prince Ja ...

History

The church building was dedicated in 1225. It was not originally a cathedral since the '' Rīgas Doms'' served that function. At the beginning of the 15th century the Holy Cross Chapel was built at the south end of the early

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

church, and part of the church was transformed into a

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

.In 1522 during the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

the building became the second

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church in Riga. In 1523 it became the first Latvian language Lutheran church there. In 1582 it was given to the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

as part of the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

when

Stephen Báthory Stephen Báthory (; ; ; 27 September 1533 – 12 December 1586) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) as well as Prince of Transylvania, earlier Voivode of Transylvania (1571–1576). The son of Stephen VIII Báthory ...

of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

gained control of Riga. In 1621 it was returned to the Lutherans after

Gustav II Adolf Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

occupied Riga. At various times it served as a

Swedish language Swedish ( ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, spoken predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland. It has at least 10 million native speakers, making it the G ...

, German language, or

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...

Lutheran church. After the Russian occupation of 1710, the church was named ''The Crown Church'' however religions services in the German language were allowed to continue. In 1812 it was used as a storehouse for flour bags and other food supplies by

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's troops. During that time, from June to November 1812, the congregation held services at St Peter's Church. In 1901 the oldest

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

altar in Riga, from 1680, was replaced by a new one. Following the

1923 Latvian church property referendum A referendum on the transfer of church property was held in Latvia on 1 and 2 September 1923,Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1122 the first time a referendum had been held in the country.Hiden, ...

, the building was given back to the Catholics for use as their cathedral since the ''Rīgas Doms'' was now an Evangelical Lutheran cathedral. The first Catholic mass was held on 3 May 1924 by the Catholic Archbishop of Riga

Antonijs Springovičs Antonijs Springovičs (1 November 1876 – 1 October 1958) was a Latvian Roman Catholic prelate who became the first Archbishop of Riga in 1923. Early years Springovičs was born on 31 October 1876 in Rēzekne. In 1897, he joined the seminary i ...

. The Catholic parish of St James was created by Archbishop

on April 18, 1947. This establishment of the parish was intended to be national congregation without a specific territory, consisting of Latvian Catholics in and around Riga, as well as English and French Catholics."Draudze"
''web.archive.org''. Retrieved on 30 May 2020. The cathedral was visited by Pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1993 and by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

in 2018.

Gallery

File:Latvia Riga St.Jacob church.jpg, Clock tower File:Cathedral of Saint James Interior 1, Riga, Latvia - Diliff.jpg, Interior of the cathedral File:Church entrance anno 1225 (8532887682).jpg, Main portal File:Vistas desde la iglesia de San Pedro, Riga, Letonia, 2012-08-07, DD 21.JPG, From St. Peter's Church steeple

References

Sources

*
Svētā Jēkaba katedrāle at ''catholic.lv''

External links

*
Rīgas Svētā Jēkaba katedrāle
*

{{Authority control Roman Catholic churches in Riga Roman Catholic cathedrals in Latvia Brick Gothic Gothic architecture in Latvia

History

Gallery

See also

References

Sources

External links