Riga, Latvia - Art Nouveau Buildings
(click to enlarge)
(click to enlarge)
The "Historic Center" of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, because it boasts the largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in Europe. According to
http://www.worldheritagesite.org/sites/riga.html
"Between 1896 and 1913, the city expanded and a housing boom followed. The style which developed in Riga was influenced mainly by German, Austrian and Finnish architects. Mikhail Eisenstein is one of the most famous proponents of the style in Riga.
After the revolution of 1905 a distinctively Latvian variation of Art Nouveau developed, known as National Romanticism. Architects started to use traditional Latvian folk elements and natural building materials. Typical elements were steep roofs, heavy structures and the use of ethnographic ornamental motifs. "