Daily Archives: 26/01/2020

Saturday 18th January 2020 Today’s route first took us past the Powder Tower. Originally called the Sand Tower, this was built in 1330 as part of the city’s fortifications and defences. Over the centuries it has been rebuilt and redesigned several times, and it took on its current form in around 1650. It is a formidable defensive structure at 25.6 metres high and 14.3 metres in diameter with walls which are 3 metres thick. It takes its current name from the gunpowder which was stored there and it now houses a War Museum. Jacob’s Barracks – a row of yellow, red-roofed buildings – extends along Torna Street from the Powder Tower down towards St Jacob’s Cathedral and the River Daugava. It is the longest building in Old Riga. Baron Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Münchhausen, who was the inspiration for the eponymous character in the fictional book Baron Münchausen’s Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia lived here in the mid eighteenth century. The street is now home to bars, shops and travel agents. Jacob’s Barracks were built just outside the city fortifications and now face some remains of the city walls [below] and the Swedish Gate [not pictured]. […]