St. Martin’s Lutheran Church and Martin’s Cemetery

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For those of you who are following me on a tour of the suburbs of Riga, Latvia we are not done yet. I have been giving everything is small doses. Anyway if you were wondering if it would be possible to see all of Pardaugava in one day the answer is yes, if you drive but then what will you actually see and no, if you take transportation or even walk about. My hubby Martin and I have walked great distances just because it was simpler to do so but it is quite a hike. We cross Kalnciema Street and walk along Balozu (Pidgeon) Street and stop at Kristapa Street. From here we can see the Agenskalna Water Tower on the corner of Alises Street. Riga’s water towers are attractive and many are still functional. When the population increased in Pardaugava layers of ground water became polluted and unusable. So artesian wells were drilled. In all of Pardaugava there are 21 wells five of them in Agenskalns. Finally in 1906 Pardaugava was connected to the central water supply of Riga. I haven’t seen it yet but I heard that they were thinking of starting to create living spaces in these towers. At Slokas Street # 34 standing back from the street is Sv. Martina Luteranu Baznica or Saint Martin’s Lutheran Church. It was built in 1852 in the Romanesque style by architect Johann Daniel Felsko. Then in 1887 academician Heinrich Scheel enlarged the church and remodeled it in Gothic style. Walking onward we come to Martina Cemetery which is the oldest cemetery in Pardaugava and was begun in 1773 and closed down in 1951. The bell tower and the vault of the Grindelis are now classified as historical architecture of the 18th century. Martina Cemetery is the final resting place of Latvian composer Emils Darzins (1875-1910), writer and editor Ansis Leitans (1815-1874), scientist and mathematician Edgars Lejnieks and one of the founders of biomechanics O.V. Tilo and other actors, directors and famous people whose graves are included among the historical monuments. Photo of St. Martin's http://photos.wikimapia.org/p/00/02/43/29/97_big.jpg