Timeline of Riga

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Riga, Latvia.

12th–14th centuries

 * 1158 CE – Area settled by Bremen merchants.
 * 1190 – Augustinian monastery established.
 * 1201 – Town built by Catholic bishop Albert.
 * 1202
 * Bishopric of Livonia relocates to Riga from Üxküll.
 * Order of the Brethren of the Sword founded.
 * 1209 – St. Peter's Church active.
 * 1211 – Church of the Virgin construction begins.
 * 1225
 * active (approximate date).
 * St. James's Church dedicated.
 * 1234 – St. John's Chapel built (approximate date).
 * 1255 – Archbishopric of Riga established.
 * 1260 – St. Mary Magdalene's Church built.
 * 1282 – Riga joins Hanseatic League.
 * 1330 – Brotherhood of Blackheads organized.

16th century

 * 1510 – December: Christmas tree displayed in marketplace.
 * 1515 – Riga Castle rebuilt.
 * 1524 – Public library established.
 * 1541 – Riga joins League of Schmalkalden.
 * 1547 – Sigismund II of Poland in power.
 * 1558 – Riga area besieged by Russians.
 * 1561 – Territory converts to Lutheranism from Catholicism.
 * 1581 – Riga is granted status of Imperial Free City.
 * 1582 – Polish in power.
 * 1584 – begin.
 * 1588 – sets up printing business.
 * 1591 – St. Gertrude Church rebuilt.

17th century

 * 1621 – Riga taken by forces of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.
 * 1638 – Church of Jesus consecrated.
 * 1650 – Powder Tower rebuilt.
 * 1656 – Riga besieged by Russian forces of Alexis Mikhailovich.
 * 1698 – Swedish Gate constructed.

18th century

 * 1710 – Siege of Riga; Russians in power.
 * 1721 – Riga becomes part of Russian empire.
 * 1728 – St. Peter and St. Paul Church built (approximate date).
 * 1765 – City Hall built.
 * 1773
 * Great Cemetery and Pokrov Cemetery established.
 * Himsel Museum established.
 * 1781 – City becomes capital of Riga viceroyalty.
 * 1782 – The Riga City Theater is founded.
 * 1785 – Our Lady of Sorrows Church built.
 * 1796 – City becomes capital of Livonia.
 * 1798 – Grebenstchikov House of Prayer rebuilt.

19th century

 * 1812
 * Fire.
 * Siege of Riga by French forces.
 * 1817 – Wohrmann Park inaugurated.
 * 1818
 * Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady Church built.
 * Erection of a granite column in a square facing the citadel to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon in 1812.
 * 1825 – St. Alexander Nevsky Church built.
 * 1833 – Homeopathic pharmacy opened by the Association of Chemists and Pharmaceutists.
 * 1845 – Museum of Natural History founded.
 * 1852 – St. Martin's Church built.
 * 1854 – Riga blockaded by British.
 * 1855 – Exchange built.
 * 1857
 * Large Guild built.
 * Population: 70,463.
 * 1858 – City fortifications dismantled.
 * 1859 – English Church built.
 * 1861 – Riga Central Station built; Riga – Daugavpils Railway begins operating.
 * 1862 – Riga Polytechnical Institute founded.
 * 1863 – Riga City Theatre built.
 * 1866 – Small Guild built.
 * 1867 – Population: 102,590.
 * 1868
 * Riga – Jelgava Railway begins operating.
 * Riga Latvian Society founded.
 * 1869
 * Polytechnic built.
 * Riga City Art Gallery opens.
 * Latvian Museum of National History founded.
 * 1870 – Kunstverein founded.
 * 1873 – Latvian Song and Dance Festival begins.
 * 1877 – Tornakalns – Tukums II Railway begins operating; Brasa Station opens.
 * 1878 – Imperial city self-government statute in effect.
 * 1881 – Population: 169,329.
 * 1883
 * Riga Russian Theatre established.
 * Nativity Cathedral built.
 * 1887 – St. Paul's Lutheran Church built.
 * 1889 – Riga – Lugazi Railway begins operating.
 * 1890 – becomes mayor.
 * 1891
 * Church of Luther consecrated.
 * Russian language becomes official language of Baltic provinces.
 * 1892
 * Municipal "counter-reform" enacted by imperial government.
 * St. Francis Church consecrated.
 * 1895 – Holy Trinity Orthodox Church built; Holy Archangel Mikhail Church dedicated.
 * 1897 – Population: 282,943.

20th century

 * 1903 – Commercial school established.
 * 1905
 * 13 January: Demonstration suppressed by Russian army.
 * Museum of Art built.
 * 1906
 * (library) opens.
 * St. Gertrude New Church built.
 * established.
 * 1907 – Holy Trinity Cathedral built.
 * 1909 – Church of the Cross and Cat House built.
 * 1912 – Riga Zoo opens.
 * 1914
 * Railway Bridge inaugurated.
 * Population: 569,100.
 * 1915
 * Brothers' Cemetery established.
 * Port closed.
 * 1916 – Riflemen Museum founded.
 * 1917 – 3 September: Germans in power.
 * 1918 – 18 November: Riga becomes capital of independent Latvia.
 * 1919
 * 3 January: Soviets in power.
 * May: Soviets ousted.
 * National Library of Latvia, Latvia Higher School, Latvian Conservatory of Music, and Latvian National Theatre founded.
 * Latvju Opera active.
 * 1920
 * Riga Artists Group formed.
 * Latvian Museum of Foreign Art established.
 * Dailes Theatre opens.
 * 1921 – Art Academy established.
 * 1922 – created.
 * 1927 – Mezaparks Lutheran Church active.
 * 1928 – Spilve Airport in operation.
 * 1930 – Riga Central Market built.
 * 1932 – The Ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Latvia opens.
 * 1935 – Freedom Monument unveiled.
 * 1937
 * Mangali – Rujiena Railway begins operating.
 * City hosts EuroBasket 1937.
 * 1940 – Soviet occupation.
 * 1941
 * 13–14 June: June deportation.
 * 1 July: German occupation begins.
 * October: Jewish ghetto created.
 * Proletariat, Kirov, and Moscow administrative districts established.
 * 1944
 * 13 October: Soviet re-occupation.
 * founded.
 * 1946 – Dinamo Riga ice hockey team formed.
 * 1949
 * March 25–28: March Deportations
 * Riga Autobus Factory is founded.
 * 1950 – Riga Medical Institute established.
 * 1954 – Latvijas Televīzija (television station) headquartered in city.
 * 1956
 * Academy of Sciences building constructed.
 * Riga Aviation Museum established.
 * 1957
 * Rīgas Balss newspaper begins publication.
 * Stone Bridge opens.
 * 1958
 * TTT Riga and BK VEF Rīga basketball clubs formed.
 * Daugava Stadium opens.
 * 1964 – Coach Terminal built.
 * 1965 – Population: 657,000.
 * 1969 – October, Lenin, and Leningrad administrative districts established.
 * 1972 – Andrejs Upits' Memorial Museum founded.
 * 1973 – Riga International Airport built.
 * 1977 – Island Bridge built.
 * 1979 – Population: 840,000.
 * 1981 – Gorky Bridge opens.
 * 1984
 * Alfreds Rubiks becomes mayor.
 * Zolitūde construction begins.
 * 1985
 * Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders erected.
 * Krisjanis Barons Memorial Museum established.
 * Population: 883,000.
 * 1986 – Riga Radio and TV Tower built.
 * 1987
 * 14 June: Demonstrators commemorate 1941 deportations.
 * Latvian Museum of Pharmacy founded.
 * 1988 – Riga Film Museum established.
 * 1989
 * Arsenals – Fine Arts Museum active
 * Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design opens.
 * Riga Motor Museum founded.
 * 1990
 * 4 May: Restoration of Latvian independence
 * Diena newspaper begins publication.
 * Latvian Academy of Culture established.
 * Andris Teikmanis becomes mayor.
 * 1991
 * January: The Barricades.
 * 6 September: USSR recognizes Latvian independence.
 * St. Peter's Church rebuilt.
 * Riga Marathon begins.
 * 1992
 * Banking College founded.
 * New Riga Theatre opens.
 * Latvian Institute of International Affairs headquartered in city.
 * 1993
 * 8 September: Pope John Paul II visits Riga and celebrates mass at St. James's Cathedral and in Mežaparks.
 * Museum of the Occupation of Latvia and Latvian Museum of Photography inaugurated.
 * School of Business Administration Turiba founded.
 * Rīgas Laiks magazine and Vakara Ziņas newspaper begin publication.
 * 1994
 * Maris Purgailis becomes mayor.
 * Latvian Museum of Architecture and Latvian Railway History Museum established.
 * Stockholm School of Economics in Riga campus established.
 * 1995 – Latvian National Opera house renovated.
 * 1996 – Skonto Arena opens.
 * 1997 – Andris Berzins becomes mayor.
 * 1998 – Riga Graduate School of Law established.
 * 1999
 * Riga Aviation University founded.
 * City hosts 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships.
 * House of the Blackheads rebuilt.
 * 2000
 * Andris Argalis becomes mayor.
 * BK Barons Kvartāls basketball club and Baltic Institute of Social Sciences established.
 * Skonto Stadium opens.
 * International Charter on Authenticity and Historical Reconstruction in Relationship to Cultural Heritage signed in Riga.

21st century

 * 2001
 * Gundars Bojars becomes mayor.
 * 800th anniversary of founding of Riga.
 * Riga Porcelain Museum and Kino Citadele open.
 * Bikernieki Memorial unveiled.
 * 2002 – Providus Centre for Public Policy established.
 * 2003
 * Rigas Satiksme founded.
 * City hosts Eurovision Song Contest 2003.
 * Population: 739,232.
 * 2004
 * 1 May: Latvia joins the European Union.
 * (hi-rise) built.
 * 2005
 * 2 February:.
 * 12 March: held.
 * Aivars Aksenoks becomes mayor.
 * Latvian National Museum of Art and JFK Olimps football club established.
 * Riga Salsa Festival begins.
 * 2006
 * Riga Planning Region and FK Jauniba Riga football club established.
 * City hosts NATO summit.
 * Arena Riga opens.
 * City hosts 2006 IIHF World Championship.
 * 2007 – Janis Birks becomes mayor.
 * 2008 – Southern Bridge opens.
 * 2009
 * 13 January: Riot.
 * Nils Usakovs becomes mayor.
 * Pushkin Statue erected.
 * 2010
 * Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications headquartered in Riga.
 * Population: 703,260.
 * 2013
 * 20 June: Castle fire.
 * 21 November: Supermarket roof collapse.
 * 2014 – National Library of Latvia new building constructed.
 * 2015 – Zunda Towers built.
 * 2021 – Hostel fire.
 * 2022 – Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders demolished.