Sherlock Holmes in Old Riga

By

 

Entrance to hotel

If you're an admirer of Sherlock Holmes, famous London detective of the late 19th Century, you'll love the Sherlock Art Hotel in Riga. They have a particular respect for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries. 





Sherlock himself
The hotel, located only a block from the Dom Square, has a bust of the detective himself attached to the outside wall. Anyone who knows Sherlock Holmes will enjoy the pipe in his left hand and gun in his right hand. 





Holmes' residence



Upon walking through the archway, you are greeted with a life-size painting of the home that Sherlock Holmes lived and worked with Dr. Watson - 221B Baker Street. The Victorian-era painting is so realistic that a car parked in front of it is the only way you know you're in the 21st Century.




Painted Mural


An 18th Century street mural of horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians greets a visitor in the inner courtyard. 




Sherlock on a mission



Another picture shows Sherlock at his best, in the midst of solving his latest case. The owner truly loves the mysterious theme. 


The door of hotel





Finally, we reached the front door of the hotel - identified as 221B Baker Street in London, England. Because of the lockdown, we never did manage to get inside the hotel, but I'm sure that the Sherlock Holmes theme is found in every nook and cranny. 


You'll have to come and find out for yourself when you visit Riga. 

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