Brothers ' Cemetery ( Riga ) The Brothers ' Cemetery or Cemetery of the Brethren ( ) , also sometimes referred to in English as the Common Graves or simply as the Military Cemetery , is a military cemetery and national monument in Riga , capital of Latvia . The cemetery is a memorial to and burial ground for thousands of Latvian soldiers who were killed between 1915 and 1920 in World War I and the Latvian War of Independence . It was built as an integrated combination of sculpture and landscaping between 1924 and 1936 , to designs by the sculptor Kārlis Zāle , many of whose sculptures feature prominently , by the architects P . Feders , A . Birzenieks , P . Kundziņš , the landscape gardener Andrejs Zeidaks , the sculptors J . Cirulis and F . Valdmanis and others . Design . The cemetery consists of an area of 9 hectares in northeastern Riga , 5 kilometers from the city center . It borders the First Forest Cemetery and Rainis Cemetery . The memorial expresses national gratitude to the fallen heroes through cultural references to the Latvian nation . The main gate of the cemetery is 10 meters high and 32 meters wide . To either side of the entrance , on 2 meter high platforms , is a sculptural group 3 . 3 meters high representing a pair of dying ancient Latvian horsemen . The riders and horses in the righthand sculptural group have straight stances ; one of the horses has its head thrown back , and upward movement dominates in the group . This is in contrast to the lefthand group , which is dominated by downward movement as expressed through the bowed heads of the riders and horses ; the riders have lowered their shields and the flags they are carrying . Above the entrance the dates 1915 ( when the first burials in the cemetery were made ) and 1920 ( the last year of the Latvian War of Independence ) are displayed ; between the two dates the gate is decorated with the coat of arms of Latvia . From the main entrance the 205 meters long Road of Thoughts leads through an avenue of linden trees to the Terrace of Heroes , encircled by an oak grove planted in 1923 . The terrace , paved with slabs of tufa , is about 73 meters wide and 78 meters long ; in its center is placed the 1 meter high altar of eternal fire . As the Terrace of Heroes rises above the Road of Thoughts it hides from sight the central burial ground , which is on a lower level than the Road of Thoughts , until one has crossed the terrace , which thus provides a panorama of the burial ground and forms a barrier between the worlds of the living and of the dead . History . On 26 September 1914 Riga City Council received a request to set aside burial grounds , which could later form a separate cemetery , for soldiers killed in action during World War I . The dunes next to the Forest Cemetery were chosen for the purpose . The first soldiers buried there , on 15 October 1915 , were J . Stūris , A . Havernass and I . Timms . As the war continued , more and more burials were made , and it soon became necessary to plan them so that the graveyard could be extended to meet the continuing need . Such a plan was made by Andrejs Zeidaks , then the head gardener of the city . In 1920 a committee for overseeing cemeteries and battle fields from World War I was formed , which became responsible for the development of the Brothers ' Cemetery . The development of the memorial can thus be roughly divided into two periods . First was the period of landscape development , which lasted until 1923 , when the landscaping was developed according to Zeidaks ' ideas . Meanwhile the architectonic and artistic development of the cemetery was being discussed . In 1921 and in 1922 two closed design contests took place . The sculptor Kārlis Zāle , who was visiting Riga to participate in the design contest for the Freedom Monument , was invited to take part in the second contest for the cemetery as well . He won , and the second phase of development began , which lasted until 1936 . In this period the landscaping was supplemented by architectonic and sculptural elements to form a unified ensemble in accordance with Zāle ' s design . The architectural works were directed by P . Feders ; the architect A . Birznieks and the sculptors M . Šmalcs , N . Maulics and P . Banders were also involved . The foundation stone of the memorial was laid on 18 November 1924 . The first sculptural group , of dying horsemen , was unveiled on 20 November 1927 , the second on 2 September 1928 . The famous sculpture of Mother Latvia and her dead sons was unveiled on 13 October 1929 . Construction of the main gates began in 1930 . Statues of soldiers with shields symbolizing the four regions of Latvia were carved later . In 1936 the coats of arms of the 19 districts and the 59 cities of Latvia were carved in the wall of the cemetery . The cemetery was formally dedicated as a memorial on 11 November 1936 in the presence of the then President of Latvia and the government . Burials . The cemetery contains more than 2 , 000 burials , mostly of soldiers who were killed between 1915 and 1920 in World War I and the Latvian War of Independence . It also contains , as reburials , a number of graves of Latvian Legion soldiers killed during World War II and of holders of the Lāčplēsis War Order ( ) , awarded for extraordinary merit during the Latvian War of Independence .