Nativity of Christ Cathedral, Riga, Latvia

Picture of Nativity of Christ Cathedral, Riga, Latvia
Nativity of Christ Cathedral is an Orthodox Cathedral located on Brivibas iela in Riga, Latvia. The cathedral was built in a Neo-Byzantine style after the design of Nikolai Chagin between 1876 and 1883. The largest Orthodox building in Baltic region was built on the initiative of local governor-general Pyotr Bagration and bishop Veniamin Karelin with a blessing of the Russian Tsar Alexander II.


Nativity of Christ Cathedral was turned into a Lutheran church during the World War I and German occupation of Riga but it was restored as Orthodox Cathedral in 1921. The communist authorities closed the cathedral and converted it into a planetarium in the 1960's. The Nativity of Christ Cathedral was renovated and restored as a Orthodox cathedral after Latvia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 but the locals still name it the 'Planetarijs'.

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