Forum, History, Latvia, Port, Transport

What is one of the most important urban landmarks? How does it look like now? How did it look in the past centuries? Very old and brand new photos have immortalized the history of the port. Sometimes one can wonder about the things the port boasted a hundred or even twenty years ago – now it is history and compared to today's processes the achievements seem insignificant. Still we must not underestimate the history because it is the path that we followed to meet the present day – today, when the Riga Port is the most important seabound cargo shipping center in the Baltic countries and one of the leaders of the region's total transshipment market.

In fact the port is older than our city – first there was the port and after that the city of Riga was born. That is why this year the Riga Port celebrates its glorious anniversary – it is 815 years old!

On the occasion of significant anniversary, the Freeport of Riga Authority has organized an exhibition ”Moments of the Riga Port History” at the shopping center Galerija Centrs. It will be open for visitors from August 12 till August 24. The exhibition presents historical photographs from Riga History and Navigation Museum’s collections.

A bird’s eye view of the port

In the framework of the Riga City Festival a photo exhibition “The Port of Riga in the 21st century” will be opened at Livu Square. 17 billboards with the modern aerial photographs of the Freeport of Riga, taken by the photographer Juris Kalnins, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the field of aerial photographs, will be available. Every photo is provided with a short description of a depicted city district or a landmark location. The aim of the exhibition is to present cargo handling terminals, the port infrastructure and nature reserves, located on the territory of the Freeport of Riga, to Riga residents and guests and provide people with the opportunity to see the city and the port area from an unusual observation point.