Riga Castle

after heavy shelling by the West Russian Volunteer Army during the Latvian War of Independence The castle was built based on a treaty between Riga and the Livonian Order, who consisted of the remainders of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and were by then part of the German Order – in the 13th century Rigans had rebelled against the Order and demolished its original castle in the centre of the town. Due to constant conflict with Rigans the Order chose to build a new castle beyond the borders of the town rather than to rebuild the original castle. The site occupied by Convent of the Saint Spirit – a hospital and shelter for the poor – was chosen and the convent moved to the location of the original castle. The castle served as the residence of the Master of the Livonian Order, but due to continuous conflicts with Rigans the residence was moved to the Castle of Cēsis sometime before the castle was destroyed by Rigans in 1484. The Rigans eventually lost the fight and were forced to rebuild the castle – the restoration was finished in 1515. After the 1561 Treaty of Vilnius, the order ceased to exist and the castle became a Lithuanian, and in 1569 a Polish-Lithuanian stronghold. In 1621 Riga came under Swedish rule and the castle was used to house the Swedish administration. After the city came under the Russian Empire in the early 18th century, the castle housed the administration and courts of the Riga Governorate (which included most of present Latvia and Estonia) and served as residence of Governors General. Since 1922 the castle became residence of the President of Latvia. After Soviet occupation, the castle housed the Council of People Commissars of the Latvian SSR in 1940–1941. In 1941, the Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union established a Pioneers Palace in the northern part of the castle. Several museums are housed in the southern part of the castle. After the independence of Latvia was restored the northern part of the Castle became the residence of the President of Latvia. == Architecture==

The original Castle was a three-floor building which enclosed a rectangular courtyard and had four rectangular towers in its corners. After the Castle was demolished in 1484 it was rebuilt with two towers replaced by round towers following the latest developments of military technologies. The Castle experienced vast development during 17th century when it was almost constantly under construction. In 1682 Arsenal was attached to the castle, it was torn down about one hundred years later, in 1783 to build a court/house. == 2013 fire incident ==

The builders who worked on the reconstruction of the Riga Castle, which began in December 2012, left work at 18:45. Around 22:21 on the night of 20 June 2013, fire broke out in the castle and the firefighters were called in. The castle was guarded by the military police. Around 1 a.m., the State Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) reported that 79 rescuers, 11 tanks, 3 ladders, 1 platform and 3 specialized vehicles were involved in the operation, The Riga agency of State Fire and Rescue Service gathered all resources available, including aid from the Jūrmala fire department. Damage Riga Castle on the day after the fire emergency service firefighters estimate that around 3,200 square meters of the castle was destroyed, being 2,400 square meters of the palace roof and the attic, with exception of the National History Museum. During the fire there were wide concerns spreading on social media about the status of unique museum collections located at the Castle. None of the collections were destroyed by the fire, however parts of them were damaged by water. == References ==