ST. PETER’S CHURCH IN RIGA

ST. PETER'S CHURCH IN RIGA

For the first time the church is mentioned in documents in 1209. The present building is a result of a reconstruction of XV century. Its altar section was built in Gothic style in the beginning of XV century according to the pattern of St. Mary’s church in the German city of Rostock. The church’s tower was built in 1491, but already in 1666, in March, this tower, the height of which was 130 meters, collapsed under the high wind. In place of the old tower the new one was built, but this tower also, even before it was finished, burned down in 1677 in Riga’s major fire. In 1690, Riga’s architect Rupert Bindenshu constructed a new tower, but bad luck hit the tower again – it was struck by a lightning and burned down again. In 1746, Johann Wilbern built a new tower on the spot of the old one and this time the tower stood there up till the end of WWII. At the end of WWII, St. Peter’s cathedral was ruined. Fire destroyed the tower, the roof and all the interior decorations of the cathedral.

In 1954, restoration of the cathedral began and it lasted for two decades before the cathedral had been fully rebuilt by June of 1973. First, the roof was rebuilt, and starting from 1967 the tower was under reconstruction. Unlike the previous towers, the new one was built of steel. Inside the tower, elevator was installed to bring up visitors to observation decks. The present tower is a little over 123 meters high. The observation deck is located in the second gallery of the tower at the height of 72 meters. In July of 1975, the restored clock was also put into function, on which, according to an old tradition, there is only the hour’s hand. The reconstruction of inner facilities of St. Peter’s church in Riga was completed in 1983.