A complete 4-hours half day walking tour about the life and work of Konstantīns Pēkšēns, the architect who designed more than 250 buildings in Riga.
Pēkšēns embraced all of the styles of the time and moved on from the eclecticism so popular in the mid to late-1800s Riga to the Art Nouveau and its later offshoot, national romanticism. Our private tour is unique because it will give you a deep understanding of this master figure. Especially for people who are history and architecture enthusiasts.
We will start the Art Nouveau tour visiting an early project of the architect, Berga Bazars. After, you will enjoy the view of the Houses of Arveds and Edgars Bergs and especially relevant you will get introduced to these buildings by our specialised guide.
After discovering The Building of Mutual Credit Union, a nice example of Perpendicular Art Nouveau, in addition you will learn about the School in Tērbatas Street, one of the symbols of the early 20th century architecture in Rīga.
To make your visit unique in summer we will go up to the top of a building located in the Art Nouveau Center (the Quiet Center, as is often called this area of the city) from where you will have a great view to the roofs of exquisite art nouveau buildings of the beginning of the 20th century. Buildings of Art Nouveau represent nearly 40% of the whole inventory of the city centre.
We will continue our tour discovering the highlights and hidden gems in Dzirnavu Street and Alberta Street, two main streets in Riga’s Belle Époque.
Finally we will head into The Museum of Art Nouveau, a must place for art nouveau lovers. Pēkšēns designed this iconic building at Alberta 12, which the architect called home until 1907. We will visit the flat of the architect and learn some curiosities there.
If you feel artistic we will take a photo of you and your private group in the art nouveau saloon dressed up with art nouveau hats. This picture will be the perfect souvenir to remember how you enjoyed 4 hours being told about Peksens’ life and works.
The impressive house was also home to the illustrious painter Janis Rozentãls and the writer Rūdolfs Blaumanis to whom another museum is dedicated on the top floor.
Highlights of the city tour are: Houses built by the architect Konstantīns Pēkšēns along Dzirnavu Street, Alberta Street and The Museum of Art Nouveau.
About National Romanticism and Konstantīns Pēksēns
There were three main trends or schools of art nouveau in Riga: National Romanticism (main representative, Konstantīns Pēksēns), Eclectically Decorative (main representative, civil engineer Mikhail Eisenstein) and The Perpendicular (main representative, architect Jãnis Alksnis).
Konstantīns Pēksēns is the most outstanding master of National Romanticism, a style that reflects the attempt of Riga architects to create a specific Latvian architecture. This trend of art Nouveau flourished between 1905 and 1911. It was inspired by applied folk art and vernacular architecture. Latvian architects insisted on using natural building materials. Buildings in the National Romanticism vein are characterized by a solid appearance, a monumental dignity, steep roofs, window apertures with a tapered upper plant, ornamentation utilizing ethnographic motifs presented in a rather restrained manner and sometimes reproduced according to the principles of the Art Nouveau aesthetic, that is, with rounded, sinuous patterns. Every third or fourth Art Nouveau building in Riga can be categorized as belonging to National Romanticism.