St. James's Cathedral, Riga
St James' Cathedral | ||
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The Metropolitan 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 (
The church is sometimes misleadingly called St. Jacob's. The confusion arises because 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
In 1582 it was given to the
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.[2] 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.[3]
The cathedral was visited by Pope
Gallery
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Clock tower
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Interior of the cathedral
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Main portal
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From St. Peter's Church steeple
See also
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