Daugavpils was one of the first cities in Latvia to transform the more than half-kilometre long Riga Street into a pedestrian street in the late 1970s. It is the city’s liveliest artery, stretching from the railway station to the Daugava – the beginning of Riga Street, where an arch has been created under a dam with access to the river on the site of a former quay.

In 2009, the reconstruction of Riga Street was completed, giving the city a striking, harmonious synthesis of the past and modernity. A leisurely stroll here offers not only the chance to admire the splendid facades of the buildings, but also to shop and enjoy a meal. The house at 61 Rīgas Street (1860) is particularly majestic, one of the most striking examples of eclecticism, with its rich facade decoration. Opposite Post Office No. 1, there is a sculpture of a bog turtle (sculptor Ivo Folkmanis, 2009), the only sculpture in Latvia dedicated to Latgale ceramics, and at the end of the street, opposite the railway station, a cascade of water pools.

Photo www.visitdaugavpils.lv