Interior of Saint Peter's Church

History of Saint Peter's Church, Riga and it Tower - It was first mentioned in 1209, as the Merchant's Church. At the time, it was intended to be the main one for the city. Originally, it was Catholic, but became Lutheran during the Reformation in 1523. During warfare with the Livonian Order in 1297, it was used for catapult bombarding of the Wittenstein Castle. In 1408-09 the Rostock architect I. Rummeschotel added a new altar area to the existing building. More construction took place in 1456, and by 1473 the old church was completed. The tower, originally of wood, was rebuilt a number of times. It once collapsed in a storm, totally destroying a nearby house and killing 8 people. It then it burned down for the first time in 1721, and it is said that the Emperor Peter the Great himself helped fight the fire, and then immediately issued the orders for its reconstruction. He ordered the chief architect to sit on top of the weather vane at the completion of the work, drink a glass of wine, and throw the glass to the ground. The shattered pieces were to be counted, and the number of pieces would show how many centuries the spire would survive. The glass landed on a passing hay cart and survived, with only the stem breaking -- two pieces. Sure enough, the spire was destroyed by fire again -- two hundred years later, on Saint Peter's Day, 1941. For many years it was thought that the church was accidentally hit in the crossfire of battle; however it has since been discovered ...

Thanks To : Buy Best Price