4. St. Peter’s Church

Riga St. Peter’s Church is one of the oldest and most valuable buildings of medieval monumental architecture in the Baltic States. It is located in the historic centre of Riga which in 1997 was included among the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

St. Peter’s Church (Latvian: Pēterbaznīca) is one of the most significant and beautiful Gothic churches in Riga and the Baltic states. The Church was mentioned first in 1209 as the merchants church and it served as their meeting place, as well. It was a Catholic church until 1523, when during the Reformation it turned Lutheran. The Church gained its present look during several centuries.

At the end of the 17th century the main facade of the Church gained a Baroque look by city building master R.Bindenschuh. The tower of the church was destroyed the several times, last it burnt down in 1941. St.Peter church was restored in 1954-1973.

Now you can use an elevator till height of 72 m, and have a nice bird’s eye view of Riga from the observation platform. You can visit this church to see some exhibitions or to enjoy concerts, as well

The church hall leaves a grand impression, the middle part of it reaches a height of 30 meters. The altar part with five chapels demonstrates verticality of the Gothic style and fine profiles.

In 1997 Riga St Peter’s Church was included on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.

and The Riga Roosters

On top of the oldest Riga Churches - Dome Cathedral, St. Peter’s, St. John’s and St. Jacob’s – are decorations of  roosters (weatherwanes), not crosses. According to Christian tradition, the rooster is a vigilant defender against evil, and with his morning song he can drive away all bad things. The time before the rooster’s first song is full of evil, and as Jesus told his disciples, “Before the rooster crow, thou shalt deny me thrice”. Therefore the roosters should be raised as high as possible, to hear their songs from far away.

It is also true that the rooster on a church steeple serves as a wind indicator. This is very important for Riga as a seaport since the wind direction means a great deal for sailing vessels. Hence roosters decorate all the churches near the Daugava River.
There is also a legend in which a church rooster plays its (not the main one, though) role.
Tradition demanded that after the restoration of the St.Peter’s Church tower, which has been plagued by misfortunes for centuries, the construction foreman must sit on the rooster’s back, drink a glass of wine and then drop the glass to the ground. The number of fragments the glass splits into is the number of years the tower will remain standing. In 1746 the builder Johann Willburn dropped his emptied goblet of wine. The city’s inhabitants were frightened when it fell into a passing hay cart and did not break at all, so they believed the tower would soon collapse. However it turned out that there was no need to believe in superstitions because the tower stood for 200 years until World War II, when it burnt down along with the church on June 29, 1941 – exactly on St.Peter’s day. In his turn, in 1970 an architect dropped a glass of champagne from the restored church cock’s back, and it broke into immeasurable specks of dust.

Quest:

1. Saint Peter’s Church.  If you stand in front of the Blackheads House, on your left you can see Saint Peter’s Church with the nice gilded rooster on its steeple. Go to the church, be careful when crossing Kungu Street.

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