St. Saviour's Anglican Church, Riga

St Saviour’s Church is an Anglican church built of red-brick in Gothic style. It was constructed between 1857 - 1859 for British traders and sails men. The building material was brought from Britain and so was the soil the church is built on.
During the Soviet occupation the church was used as a disco for students of Riga’s Technical University. Now it is again a property of the Church of England and services are held here on Sundays in English.

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St Saviour's Anglican church was built in the old town looking out over the Daugava waterway in the mid 1800s to serve the growing British ex-pat community of merchants and seamen that sprouted up in this burgeoning port city. Indeed, the city's British connection culminated in 1901 with Rigan born George Armitstead, son of a British flax merchant who became mayor until 1912. Apparently the bricks and even the top soil were imported over from England.

I read that the church was used as a disco during the Soviet era, now it has had some money invested and is back on its feet as a church again, serving the tiny Anglican population. Apparently it is normally only open for church services and concerts but we managed to pop in one afternoon while organ practice was going on. So we experienced the aura of this pretty little church with music accompanying it.

At the back of the church are some unique photos of the congregation in the early 1900s and of a visit by Prince Charles much more recently in the post-Communist era.

In the harbour towns of the baltic sea, it is quite common to see churches from foreign states. They were usually founded for foreign sailors. Many of them are from nordic countries, but a couple of anglican communities have established themselves along the shores of the Baltic Sea and North Sea. Their church in Riga is a beautiful neogothic red brick building. When it was built in 1857, british soil, carried as ballast on trading ships, served as the fundament for the new church. During soviet times, it was used as a party room for students, but now anglican services take place again in this building.

This red brick building is Anglican Church which is build in the end of 19th century by the needs of English merchants. All details and materials were brought here from England and before the church was built the place where the church stands now was laid with soil which was also brought from England. So it's real English Church :). As I really like gothic style I am fascinated by turrets and shape of windows.