Ye Chao's first stop in Latvia was its capital, Riga.

Riga, the capital of Latvia, is the largest hub city in the Baltic Sea region and a summer resort.

The English poet Greene in the 30s of the 20th century once wrote such a hymn: "Riga, Paris of the North".

The Old Town of Riga, on the other hand, encapsulates the history and culture of the whole of Latvia and is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The old town of Riga is on the right bank of the Daugava River, small in size, surrounded by canals. The old town has the characteristics of a medieval city, with low houses, narrow streets, red tiled roofs, and a shiny metal rooster on each roof, the Hyacinth.

Covering an area of only 50 hectares, Riga's old town is like stepping back in time to the Middle Ages thanks to its narrow and winding bluestone paths, and buildings from the Middle Ages can be seen everywhere.

Latvia is located at a high latitude and has very cold sunshine in winter, but in summer it is like spring, with a pleasant climate and the sun is still shining at 8 p.m.

Therefore, the old city in winter seems silent and monotonous, as if it has entered a state of hibernation, while in summer, the old city is full of flowers and people.

In the middle of the square, deep in the alleys, there are open-air cafes and bars. Prices in Latvia are very high, but coffee is cheaper, the price of a cup of coffee is equivalent to the price of a local newspaper, so there are many people who come here to drink coffee.

Sitting around the wooden chairs surrounded by flowers, while sipping coffee and admiring the medieval architecture, there is a feeling of nostalgia flowing in your heart. The open-air bar gives people another feeling, sitting at the bar and drinking a beer, accompanied by the singing of a rock band, the flamboyant passion will not help but release from the bottom of the heart.

The heart of the Old Town is Tomsky Square.

The first place to visit when you come to the Old Town is Tomsky Square, which is the heart of the Old Town and is named after the Tomsky Church in the square. In the center of the square is a bronze plaque of UNESCO cultural heritage, and on one side of the square is the Tomsky Church.

The church houses the largest organ in Europe and the fourth largest in the world. With 26 bellows, 6,118 pipes, the longest being 10 meters and the shortest being only 13 mm, this organ can still be played to this day.

Tomsky Square is the liveliest part of the Old Town, where boys and girls from all over the country gather in garlands and festive national costumes to hold a grand song and dance performance during the Latvian Song and Dance Festival in June every year.

At this time, Tomsky Square becomes a world of flowers, a sea of singing and dancing, and this pomp and circumstance lasts for a week. On the day of autumn, a grand autumn festival is also held in the square, also known as the harvest festival.

At that time, the square was filled with stalls of all kinds, and people sold their own handmade clothes, fruits and vegetables they grown, homemade snacks and honey. In the center of the square, there is also a platform made of various fruits, vegetables and ears of wheat, and people dance happily around the platform to share the joy of harvest.

And the highest point of the Old Town is St. Peter's Church.

St. Peter's Church, built in 1209, was once the largest wooden church in Europe and was a disaster-ridden church.

It is recorded that in 1721 there was a fire in the church, and Peter the Great personally directed the firefighting. The restored church was destroyed again during World War II and was not renovated until after the end of the war, and the wooden structure was changed to a metal structure.

The church is a typical Gothic building, with walls and towers becoming more elaborate and decorated, and a sharp spire piercing the sky, which is the highest point in the old town.

The whole church shows an upward momentum everywhere, and this strong upward momentum is the embodiment of the church's religious idea of rejecting the earth. Perhaps because of its age, the church now looks dilapidated, and the façade is mottled and peeling, giving people a devastated feeling.

At the top of the church is a rooster made of cast iron, with a golden body on one side and black on the other. This rooster is also called the hyacinth, which has the function of distinguishing the direction of the wind, when the golden side is facing the city, it means that the wind is downwind, and the ships at sea can enter the port, and when the black side is facing the city, it means that the wind is against the wind, and the ship cannot enter the port.

In the local area, the rooster is believed to be able to drive away evil spirits, and the rooster crows three times, and the day is dawn, and the devil will return to hell, so the rooster is a local auspicious sign.

The most interesting building in the old town, the cat house.

There are rooster signs on many spire buildings in the old town, but there is also a building that is marked by a black cat, which is the famous cat house in the old town. Here's an interesting story.

The owner of the cat house was once a member of the merchant guild and was expelled from the guild for misconduct. Out of anger, he built the building opposite the guild, put a sign of a cat on the roof, and turned the cat's tail to the sky and the back court to the guild, in this insulting gesture to express his displeasure.

The guilds protested incessantly, and the dispute was eventually mediated by the courts. The guild and the owner of the cat house made an agreement to keep the building, but changed the orientation of the cats so that the cat's head was facing the guild.

Nowadays, the owner and guild of the cat house no longer exist, and with all these rights and wrongs, grievances and grievances, people are left with a unique ingenuity and a topic to talk about.

Witness to the vicissitudes of history of Sweden Gate.

The Swedish Gate was built in 1689 and is the only ancient city gate in Riga that has survived to this day.

Tucked away deep in the alleys of the Old Town, it's unremarkable. It was built to commemorate the bravery of the Swedish army during the Northern War.

The entire city gate is made of red bricks, and the opposite side of the city gate still retains the barracks where the Swedish army was stationed, and now it is a variety of merchants; on the left side of the city gate is an arsenal made of red bricks, which looks like a turret, and the walls of the arsenal are full of holes, and the bullet hole marks left by the war are shocking.

In front of the arsenal there are still cannons used in those years, perhaps eroded by years of wind and rain, the black cannon body has been rusted, but it still reminds people not to forget the past period of history.

Amber, a specialty of the old town of Riga.

In fact, there are almost no major shopping malls in the old city, and the only department store is still a remnant of the former Soviet Union, which is very small and crowded, and is now included in the local renovation plan.

But there are many small shops in the old city, many of which are hidden in the depths of the alleys, without any conspicuous signs, but the aroma of wine is not afraid of the deep alleys, and you will find that each shop is decorated with characteristics and taste. The items sold are also very chic, and most of them are based on amber, a local specialty.