# Timeline of Riga

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Riga, Latvia.

## 12th–14th centuries

* 1158 CE – Area settled by Bremen merchants.
* 1190 – Augustinian monastery established.
* 1201 – Town built by Catholic bishop Albert.
* 1202
** Bishopric of Livonia relocates to Riga from Üxküll.
** Order of the Brethren of the Sword founded.
* 1209 – St. Peter's Church active.
* 1211 – Church of the Virgin construction begins.
* 1225
** Riga Town Council [lv] active (approximate date).
** St. James's Church dedicated.
* 1234 – St. John's Chapel built (approximate date).
* 1255 – Archbishopric of Riga established.
* 1260 – St. Mary Magdalene's Church built.
* 1282 – Riga joins Hanseatic League.
* 1330 – Brotherhood of Blackheads organized.

## 16th century

* 1510 – December: Christmas tree displayed in marketplace.
* 1515 – Riga Castle rebuilt.
* 1524 – Public library established.
* 1541 – Riga joins League of Schmalkalden.
* 1547 – Sigismund II of Poland in power.
* 1558 – Riga area besieged by Russians.
* 1561 – Territory converts to Lutheranism from Catholicism.
* 1581 – Riga is granted status of Imperial Free City.
* 1582 – Polish in power.
* 1584 – Calendar riots [lv] begin.
* 1588 – Nicolaus Mollinus [lv] sets up printing business.
* 1591 – St. Gertrude Church rebuilt.

## 17th century

* 1621 – Riga taken by forces of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
* 1638 – Church of Jesus consecrated.
* 1650 – Powder Tower rebuilt.
* 1656 – Riga besieged by Russian forces of Alexis Mikhailovich.
* 1698 – Swedish Gate constructed.

## 18th century

* 1710 – Siege of Riga; Russians in power.
* 1721 – Riga becomes part of Russian empire.
* 1728 – St. Peter and St. Paul Church built (approximate date).
* 1765 – City Hall built.
* 1773
** Great Cemetery and Pokrov Cemetery established.
** Himsel Museum established.
* 1781 – City becomes capital of Riga viceroyalty.
* 1782 – The Riga City Theater is founded.
* 1785 – Our Lady of Sorrows Church built.
* 1796 – City becomes capital of Livonia.
* 1798 – Grebenstchikov House of Prayer rebuilt.

## 19th century

* 1812
** Fire.
** Siege of Riga by French forces.
* 1817 – Wohrmann Park inaugurated.
* 1818
** Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady Church built.
** Erection of a granite column in a square facing the citadel to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon in 1812.
* 1825 – St. Alexander Nevsky Church built.
* 1833 – Homeopathic pharmacy opened by the Association of Chemists and Pharmaceutists.
* 1845 – Museum of Natural History founded.
* 1852 – St. Martin's Church built.
* 1854 – Riga blockaded by British.
* 1855 – Exchange built.
* 1857
** Large Guild built.
** Population: 70,463.
* 1858 – City fortifications dismantled.
* 1859 – English Church built.
* 1861 – Riga Central Station built; Riga – Daugavpils Railway begins operating.
* 1862 – Riga Polytechnical Institute founded.
* 1863 – Riga City Theatre built.
* 1866 – Small Guild built.
* 1867 – Population: 102,590.
* 1868
** Riga – Jelgava Railway begins operating.
** Riga Latvian Society founded.
* 1869
** Polytechnic built.
** Riga City Art Gallery opens.
** Latvian Museum of National History founded.
* 1870 – Kunstverein founded.
* 1873 – Latvian Song and Dance Festival begins.
* 1877 – Tornakalns – Tukums II Railway begins operating; Brasa Station opens.
* 1878 – Imperial city self-government statute in effect.
* 1881 – Population: 169,329.
* 1883
** Riga Russian Theatre established.
** Nativity Cathedral built.
* 1887 – St. Paul's Lutheran Church built.
* 1889 – Riga – Lugazi Railway begins operating.
* 1890 – Ludvigs Vilhelms Kerkoviuss [lv] becomes mayor.
* 1891
** Church of Luther consecrated.
** Russian language becomes official language of Baltic provinces.
* 1892
** Municipal "counter-reform" enacted by imperial government.
** St. Francis Church consecrated.
* 1895 – Holy Trinity Orthodox Church built; Holy Archangel Mikhail Church dedicated.
* 1897 – Population: 282,943.

## 20th century

* 1903 – Commercial school established.
* 1905
** 13 January: Demonstration suppressed by Russian army.
** Museum of Art built.
* 1906
** Rīgas Centrālā bibliotēka [lv] (library) opens.
** St. Gertrude New Church built.
** Apollo Theatre (Riga) [lv] established.
* 1907 – Holy Trinity Cathedral built.
* 1909 – Church of the Cross and Cat House built.
* 1912 – Riga Zoo opens.
* 1914
** Railway Bridge inaugurated.
** Population: 569,100.
* 1915
** Brothers' Cemetery established.
** Port closed.
* 1916 – Riflemen Museum founded.
* 1917 – 3 September: Germans in power.
* 1918 – 18 November: Riga becomes capital of independent Latvia.
* 1919
** 3 January: Soviets in power.
** May: Soviets ousted.
** National Library of Latvia, Latvia Higher School, Latvian Conservatory of Music, and Latvian National Theatre founded.
** Latvju Opera active.
* 1920
** Riga Artists Group formed.
** Latvian Museum of Foreign Art established.
** Dailes Theatre opens.
* 1921 – Art Academy established.
* 1922 – University of Latvia Botanic Garden [lv] created.
* 1927 – Mezaparks Lutheran Church active.
* 1928 – Spilve Airport in operation.
* 1930 – Riga Central Market built.
* 1932 – The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia opens.
* 1935 – Freedom Monument unveiled.
* 1937
** Mangali – Rujiena Railway begins operating.
** City hosts EuroBasket 1937.
* 1940 – Soviet occupation.
* 1941
** 13–14 June: June deportation .
** 1 July: German occupation begins.
** October: Jewish ghetto created.
** Proletariat, Kirov, and Moscow administrative districts established.
* 1944
** 13 October: Soviet re-occupation.
** Latvian State Puppet Theatre [lv] founded.
* 1946 – Dinamo Riga ice hockey team formed.
* 1949
** March 25–28: March Deportations
** Riga Autobus Factory is founded.
* 1950 – Riga Medical Institute established.
* 1954 – Latvijas Televīzija (television station) headquartered in city.
* 1956
** Academy of Sciences building constructed.
** Riga Aviation Museum established.
* 1957
** Rīgas Balss newspaper begins publication.
** Stone Bridge opens.
* 1958
** TTT Riga and BK VEF Rīga basketball clubs formed.
** Daugava Stadium opens.
* 1964 – Coach Terminal built.
* 1965 – Population: 657,000.
* 1969 – October, Lenin, and Leningrad administrative districts established.
* 1972 – Andrejs Upits' Memorial Museum founded.
* 1973 – Riga International Airport built.
* 1977 – Island Bridge built.
* 1979 – Population: 840,000.
* 1981 – Gorky Bridge opens.
* 1984
** Alfreds Rubiks becomes mayor.
** Zolitūde construction begins.
* 1985
** Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders erected.
** Krisjanis Barons Memorial Museum established.
** Population: 883,000.
* 1986 – Riga Radio and TV Tower built.
* 1987
** 14 June: Demonstrators commemorate 1941 deportations.
** Latvian Museum of Pharmacy founded.
* 1988 – Riga Film Museum established.
* 1989
** Arsenals – Fine Arts Museum active
** Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design opens.
** Riga Motor Museum founded.
* 1990
** 4 May: Restoration of Latvian independence
** Diena newspaper begins publication.
** Latvian Academy of Culture established.
** Andris Teikmanis becomes mayor.
* 1991
** January: The Barricades.
** 6 September: USSR recognizes Latvian independence.
** St. Peter's Church rebuilt.
** Riga Marathon begins.
* 1992
** Banking College founded.
** New Riga Theatre opens.
** Latvian Institute of International Affairs headquartered in city.
* 1993
** 8 September: Pope John Paul II visits Riga and celebrates mass at St. James's Cathedral and in Mežaparks.
** Museum of the Occupation of Latvia and Latvian Museum of Photography inaugurated.
** School of Business Administration Turiba founded.
** Rīgas Laiks magazine and Vakara Ziņas newspaper begin publication.
* 1994
** Maris Purgailis becomes mayor.
** Latvian Museum of Architecture and Latvian Railway History Museum established.
** Stockholm School of Economics in Riga campus established.
* 1995 – Latvian National Opera house renovated.
* 1996 – Skonto Arena opens.
* 1997 – Andris Berzins becomes mayor.
* 1998 – Riga Graduate School of Law established.
* 1999
** Riga Aviation University founded.
** City hosts 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships.
** House of the Blackheads rebuilt.
* 2000
** Andris Argalis becomes mayor.
** BK Barons Kvartāls basketball club and Baltic Institute of Social Sciences established.
** Skonto Stadium opens.
** International Charter on Authenticity and Historical Reconstruction in Relationship to Cultural Heritage signed in Riga.

## 21st century

* 2001
** Gundars Bojars becomes mayor.
** 800th anniversary of founding of Riga.
** Riga Porcelain Museum and Kino Citadele open.
** Bikernieki Memorial unveiled.
* 2002 – Providus Centre for Public Policy established.
* 2003
** Rigas Satiksme founded.
** City hosts Eurovision Song Contest 2003.
** Population: 739,232.
* 2004
** 1 May: Latvia joins the European Union.
** Saules akmens [lv] (hi-rise) built.
* 2005
** 2 February: Railway accident [lv].
** 12 March: Latvian local elections, 2005 [lv] held.
** Aivars Aksenoks becomes mayor.
** Latvian National Museum of Art and JFK Olimps football club established.
** Riga Salsa Festival begins.
* 2006
** Riga Planning Region and FK Jauniba Riga football club established.
** City hosts NATO summit.
** Arena Riga opens.
** City hosts 2006 IIHF World Championship.
* 2007 – Janis Birks becomes mayor.
* 2008 – Southern Bridge opens.
* 2009
** 13 January: Riot.
** Nils Usakovs becomes mayor.
** Pushkin Statue erected.
* 2010
** Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications headquartered in Riga.
** Population: 703,260.
* 2013
** 20 June: Castle fire.
** 21 November: Supermarket roof collapse.
* 2014 – National Library of Latvia new building constructed.
* 2015 – Zunda Towers built.
* 2021 – Hostel fire.
* 2022 – Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders demolished.