SAINT-PIERRE CHURCH (SV. BAZNĪCA BAZNĪCA)

St. Peter's Church is the tallest building in Vecrīga and, to get off to a good start on your tour of the old town, you need to take the elevator up the church tower to admire the panorama offered from the 70 m-high platform, while the spire peaks at 123 m. This Lutheran church, which was Catholic until 1523, the time of the Reformation, was first mentioned in 1209 as a merchants' church. The stone edifice was built in the second half of the ^13th century and partly rebuilt in the ^14th and ^15th centuries. The church is unusual in that it combines several architectural styles. The portal on the north side (on your left as you face the church) is Gothic, while the portal on the main façade is Baroque. Inside, elegant cross and star vaults support the edifice. The columns leading to the choir bear the coats of arms of the German dukes, who were buried in the church itself, as was the tradition at the time. At the end of the ^17th century, at 64.5 m, the tower of St. Peter's church was known to be the tallest wooden tower of its time. The church tower has burned down more than once over the centuries, the last time being during the 1941 bombing, which hit the old town hard. Rehabilitated in 1968 and 1973, the tower, which this time is no longer made of wood but of metal, has retained its original shape.