St. James's Cathedral, Riga

This article is about the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Riga. See other articles for the Lutheran cathedral and the Orthodox cathedral. Church in Jēkaba iela , Latvia

St James' Cathedral
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint James the Greater
Svētā Jēkaba katedrāle
The façade of St. James's Cathedral
St James' Cathedral
56°57′3″N 24°6′17″E / 56.95083°N 24.10472°E / 56.95083; 24.10472
Location	Riga, Jēkaba iela 9
Country	Latvia
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Previous denomination	Roman Catholic (1225-1552; 1582-1621) Lutheran (1552-1582; 1621-1923)
Website	Cathedral Website
History
Status	Cathedral & Parish church
Dedication	St James the Greater
Consecrated	1225
Architecture
Functional status	Active
Heritage designation	State Protected Cultural Monument
Designated	18 December 1998
Architectural type	Church
Style	Brick Gothic
Years built	1212-1225
Groundbreaking	13th century
Specifications
Length	50 m (164 ft 1 in)
Width	24 m (78 ft 9 in)
Number of spires	1
Spire height	91.64 m (300 ft 8 in)
Materials	Red bricks
Administration
Archdiocese	Riga
Parish	Svētā Jēkaba
Clergy
Archbishop	Zbigņevs Stankevičs

St James's Cathedral (Latvian: Svētā Jēkaba katedrāle, German: Jakobskirche) is the Roman Catholic cathedral of Riga in Latvia. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint James the Greater. The building is part of the Old Riga UNESCO World Heritage Site and lies directly opposite the House of the Livonian Noble Corporation, the meeting place of Latvia's parliament the Saeima.

The church is sometimes called St. Jacob's. English, unlike most languages, uses different names for the Old Testament name Jacob and the New Testament name James.

History

The church building was dedicated in 1225. It was not originally a cathedral since the Rīgas Doms served that function. At the beginning of the 15th century the Holy Cross Chapel was built at the south end of the early Gothic church, and part of the church was transformed into a basilica.

In 1522 during the Protestant Reformation the building became the second German language Lutheran church in Riga. In 1523 it became the first Latvian language Lutheran church there.

In 1582 it was given to the Jesuits as part of the Counter-Reformation when Stephen Báthory of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth gained control of Riga. In 1621 it was returned to the Lutherans after Gustav II Adolf of Sweden occupied Riga. At various times it served as a Swedish language, German language, or Estonian language Lutheran church. After the Russian occupation of 1710, the church was named The Crown Church however religions services in the German language were allowed to continue. In 1812 it was used as a storehouse for flour bags and other food supplies by Napoleon's troops. During that time, from June to November 1812, the congregation held services at St Peter's Church.

In 1901 the oldest Baroque altar in Riga, from 1680, was replaced by a new one. Following the 1923 Latvian church property referendum, the building was given back to the Catholics for use as their cathedral since the Rīgas Doms was now an Evangelical Lutheran cathedral. The first Catholic mass was held on 3 May 1924 by the Catholic Archbishop of Riga Antonijs Springovičs. The Catholic parish of St James was created by Archbishop Antonijs Springovičs on April 18, 1947. This establishment of the parish was intended to be national congregation without a specific territory, consisting of Latvian Catholics in and around Riga, as well as English and French Catholics.

The cathedral was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1993 and by Pope Francis in 2018.

Gallery

Clock tower
Interior of the cathedral
Main portal
From St. Peter's Church steeple

References

"St James' Cathedral", Lonely Planet. Retrieved on 30 May 2020.
"St James' Cathedral", In you pocket. Retrieved on 30 May 2020.
"Draudze", web.archive.org. Retrieved on 30 May 2020.

Sources

(in Latvian) Svētā Jēkaba katedrāle at catholic.lv

External links

(in Latvian) Rīgas Svētā Jēkaba katedrāle
(in English) World Heritage Catholic Churches in Latvia

v t e Riga cityscape
Old Town	Castle Cat House Convent Yard Dannenstern House House of the Blackheads House of the Livonian Noble Corporation Large Guild Powder Tower Small Guild Swedish Gate Three Brothers
Hotels	Grand Palace Gallery Park
Monuments & memorials	Brothers' Cemetery Bikernieki Memorial Forest Cemetery Freedom Monument Great Cemetery Pokrov Cemetery
Parks & gardens	Bastejkalns Mežaparks University of Latvia Botanical Garden Vērmane Garden Victory Park
Museums & galleries	Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation National Museum of Art Museum of the Occupation of Latvia The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia Museum of Natural History War Museum Art Museum Riga Bourse Museum of National History
Theatres	Dailes Theatre Latvian National Opera Latvian National Theatre Palladium Riga New Riga Theatre Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre
Places of worship	Nativity Cathedral Cathedral St. Peter's Church St. James's Cathedral
Bridges	Island Bridge Railway Bridge Southern Bridge Stone Bridge Vanšu Bridge
Structures	Radio and TV Tower
Other	National Library of Latvia Central Market Latvian Academy of Sciences Zoo Mežaparks Great Bandstand Palace of Justice Laima Clock Zunda Towers
Waterways	Daugava River
Streets	Alberta iela Brīvības iela Kaļķu iela

v t e Places of worship in Riga
Lutheran churches	Bolderāja Cathedral Church of Christ Church of Jesus Church of Luther Church of the Cross Church of the Resurrection Daugavgrīva Holy Trinity Jaunciems Mežaparks New St. Gertrude's Old St. Gertrude's St. Catherine's St. John's St. Martin's St. Paul's St. Peter's
Catholic churches	Assumption of Our Lady Cathedral Christ the King Our Lady of Sorrows St. Albert's St. Catherine's St. Francis St. George's St. Joseph's St. Mary Magdalene's
Orthodox churches	All Saints Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady Ascension Christ the Saviour Holy Archangel Mikhail Holy Trinity Holy Trinity Cathedral Nativity Cathedral Revelation of Christ St. Alexander Nevsky St. John the Forerunner St. Peter and St. Paul St. Sergius of Radonezh Shelter of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos of Kazan
Old Believers places of worship	Grebenstchikov House of Prayer
Other Christian churches	St. Saviour's (Anglican) St. Gregory's (Armenian Apostolic)
Synagogues	Peitav Synagogue

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