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Academy of Science soviet skyscraper, Zinātņu Akadēmija, RigaAcademy of Science soviet skyscraper, Zinātņu Akadēmija, Riga

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Explo writer
Aug's picture
Aug
32635 pts.
  • Off the path Explo
    30 %
    Off the path Explo rate
    Score
    1.5 / 5
    Comments
    This building is famous in the whole Latvia. But also very singular!
  • Article Quality
    82 %
    Article Quality rate
    • Score
      5 / 5
      Comments
      Nice description and tips!
    • Score
      2.5 / 5
      Comments
      Useful information might be a little bit more developped isn't?
    • Score
      3 / 5
      Comments
      Yes, 3 pics!
    • Score
      5 / 5
      Comments
      Yes!
    • Score
      5 / 5
      Comments
      Yes!
  • Explo Popularity
    %

A huge soviet building. Soviet? Are you sure? Hum... Just look at the hammers and sickles up to the top!

My experience, Explo description: 

This skyscraper was completed in 1956. It is 108m high. It was at that time Latvia's 1st skyscraper and tallest building (for long, till the Hansabanka Central Office was constructed).

Officially, the building was a "gift" for the industrial workers and farmers of the Soviet Union: at the same period, many similar skyscrapers of this kind were constructed around USSR. For instance, the building is similar in style to Warsaw's Palace of Culture and Science, or the Moscow State University.

It was built by architect Lev Vladimirovitch Rudnev, who employed for the first time in Soviet Union ferroconcrete materials (was a new technology at that time) for a skyscraper.

If you look closely at the building, you can notice several hammers and sickles up to the top.

People in Riga nickname this building "Stalin's birthday cake" or "the Kremlin".

My personal recommendations: 

The 17th-floor balcony (65m) is open to the public for 2Ls: go there for a magnificient view over the city (only from April - September).

How getting there: 

Should I give the address, cause it is very hard to miss!!? Ok. It is just a few hundred meters East from the Old Town.

A tip to sleep: 

Hotel Tiger (cheap, central and clean).

Useful information: 
Visit duration: 

30mn if you go to the view point.

Entry fees: 

2lvs for the viewpoint.