Furry Felines in Riga

By

Nice kitty
 If you're a cat lover, you'll probably feel at home in Riga. Cats seem to roam the city whenever I go out walking. I'm not a cat-lover, but I'm sure that if you are one, you'd love it.


Last winter when we moved here, I remember seeing cats sit on the hoods of black cars parked near our flat. At the time, I didn't think much of it, but I bet that the hoods were warm yet, hence the perfect spot to take a nap.
Wandering the streets





Hiding in plain sight
The cats don't appear to be the wild type, afraid of people. I've seen tourists walk up to them and start petting them and even pick them up. I'm not sure if they are owned by people and roam during the day, or if they are just city cats in general. They certainly look like they are well-fed.



The most famous cat-related thing in Riga, however, is a building that is known as the "Cat House." This particular building has a very interesting story connected with it.
Cat House




This building was built in the early 20th Century by a wealthy Latvian merchant. The legend around this building portrays a man who wanted to join the Great Guild in Riga which was run by the German traders. The Germans refused him membership in the guild, so the Latvian merchant plotted his revenge.




Cat on a pinnacle
When he built his house across the street from the Great Guild Hall, he had two copper statues formed of angry cats with their arched backs and tails up. He had the two cat statues installed with their tails pointed at the Guild Hall to show his displeasure at their decision.



The legend goes on to say that the guild was so upset by having the cat butts pointed their direction that they took the man to court. The court's final decision was that if the merchant would turn the cat sculptures around so that the cats faced the Guild Hall, he would be allowed to join the Great Guild of Riga.
Tail pointed away from the Guild Hall



To this day, this building is still known for the two cats sitting on the front corners of the building. Tourists are told this story over and over again.



If only all of our political squabbles could be solved so easily.



Information taken from Story of Riga Black Cat House










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Golden Domes of Riga

By
Image
Orthodox Cathedral - Riga  The golden domes of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral stand out above the trees near Old Town Riga. We walk past this large building in the park not far from our apartment.  The domes shine out to the citizens on sunny days. Surrounded by the trees in the park, the walls of the cathedral are not easy to see in summer, but the size is undeniable. Of course, the golden domes tell everyone that this is a Russian Orthodox Church. After living in St. Petersburg, that is easy for us to define with the Russian style architecture. This cathedral was built between 1876 and 1883 when Latvia was a part of the Russian Empire under the reign of Tsar Alexander II.  Main Door This is the largest Orthodox Church in the entire Baltic area. A massive tower rises toward the sky when a visitor approaches the front door.  Entryway painting I visited several orthodox churches during my years in Europe. The thing that they have in common is that the interiors are covered with images
Read more

"Home Sweet Home" - Not American Version

By
Image
Older apartment buildings We've lived in St. Petersburg for close to two months and have yet to see "the American dream" - a single family house. Here, everyone lives in an apartment, located either in an old building in the historic city center or in a new high-rise farther out. The high-rise buildings are everywhere you look--in the center of everything, or at the edge of one of the many rivers. We keep hearing about the communist era cement buildings, but we haven't seen many that look too old and dilapidated. They are probably replaced by the new high-rises built since freedom came in the 1990s. We live in one of these new high-rise complexes. Our third-floor apartment is in a 21 story building in a complex of five other buildings (called korpus in Russia). We live in Korpus 3. This complex includes several modern, colorful play areas for the children. It also includes an underground parking garage for the many cars that people own. In fact, the pl
Read more

Why Roosters?

By
Image
Rooster on top of Dom Cathedral  Last week I wrote about cats being on the roof of a building, but today I'm going to share the reason that we have roosters sitting on the tip of churches in Riga. When we first moved to Riga, we noticed that some churches have the usual crosses on the top of them, but others have roosters sitting on top of the steeple. I couldn't recall ever seeing a rooster on top of a steeple. On doing more research, I was wrong to think that other countries don't have these on steeples. I found out that's it's common in European countries to see roosters on top of Lutheran churches. Our Lady of Sorrows Church The more common cross on the top of a steeple is found on Catholic churches in Europe. We have a couple of them in Old Town Riga as well. And, some Catholic churches in Europe have roosters sitting on top of crosses. So, the question popping into my head is why a rooster? After looking at several sources, it seems like ther
Read more