Latvia (ou Letônia para os íntimos ;)
Autor: André Machado Rodrigues | Publicado: 2011-12-03T04:25:00-08:00

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Fiz um breve passeio, um citytour de duas horas, no centro
velho da cidade de Riga. Meu grupo era formado por dez senhoras com média de idade de
60 anos que vinham da Russia, Ucrania, Polonia e Letônia. Foi uma experiência
bem interessante e, por outro lado, bem diferente da impressão que tive, por exemplo, ao visitar
a Finlândia.




Primeiramente, foi uma região dominada pelos poloneses,
suécos (dizem que foi a era de ouro da região), alemães (sua dominação mais
recente foi durante o regime nazista) e por fim os russos (sob o regime da
ex-União Soviética). Apesar da pequena população mostram-se orgulhosos de sua
recente independência e de sua forte raiz cultural.



Um ponto interessante é a forma com que a presença da Russia
é marcada por um sentimento rancor e alivio ao mesmo tempo. Mostrando que a
presença soviética foi bastante complicada principalmente para as pequenas
republicas, como o caso da Letônia. Eles não vendem flores ícones do comunismo,
há apenas um monumento dedicado a URSS e o que os russos chamam de libertação
dos nazistas pelos russos ele aqui chamam de período de dominação.



Vale a pena visitar, pois é um país interessante que vive hoje uma
condição social e econômica única em sua história.



Veja o álbum completo com as fotos da Letônia.




Interior da Igreja de São Pedro.







Rua medieval no centro velho de Riga.







Monumento a "libertação" soviética.




Casa de óperas e balet.




Entrada da Universidade da Letônia.