| Come and join ''TheCelotajs'' take a stroll through Viestura dārzs. Viestura dārzs is the oldest public park in Riga. It is on the site of Tsar Peter I summer palace and private garden. In 1721 Peter himself planted an elm tree, and so started a tradition of VIPs planting trees that continues to this day. In about 1812, the gardens, which were originally named Ķeizardārzs, were opened to the public, and so became the first public garden in Riga. In 1923, they were renamed after Viesturs, the Latvian ruler of Tērvete. During the Nazi occupation the park was named in honour of Otto von Hindenburg. Other features of the park include Alexander's Gate, the Song Festival Monument, the park keepers cottage, and various stone and wood sculptures. As we enter Viestura dārzs from Hanzas iela we can see many foot paths the run through Viestura dārzs. As we move along one of the foot paths we come across a stone sculpture of a pair of lions. Moving on along the foot path we will come across the pond located in Viestura dārzs as we still move on we can see another play ground. Moving on, we come across the monument to the first Latvian song festival that was held in Viestura Park in 1873 and to commemorate the centenary a pool and a wall with bronze portraits of eight Latvian composers and a memorial stone by Georgs Baumanis 19361999 was erected. The composers portrayed are: Pēteris Barisons, Kārlis Baumaņis, Alfreds Kalniņš, Emilis Melngailis, Emīls Dārziņš, Jānis Cimze, Jurjanu ... |
