This classical building in the center of Riga is very much alive, still serving its main objective: developing the (now-nearly forgotten) art of the circus.
Nutritious, versatile, and flavorful, Latvia's big gray peas are a long-term hero of national cuisine. Today, they even stand in for chickpeas in localized versions of hummus and falafel.
Printify has spearheaded the quickly growing print-on-demand market, helping regular people to become merchants selling unique products while avoiding storage costs and risks associated with unsold inventory.
Is hearing the only way one can enjoy sound? No. Latvian startup Stapes is working on a sophisticated piece of tech to allow people to feel it through their bones. This multi-sensory experience brings deep relaxation.
In Latvia, Q2 2023 data reveals an 11.7% annual wage increase, dwarfing the 0.1% rise in consumer prices, signaling a potential rebound in purchasing power after a two-year lull.
Riga International Airport has announced a comprehensive €200 million revamp of its primary passenger terminal and infrastructure, aligning with modernization efforts and the vision for 2030 sustainability goals.
This campsite in Latvia offers much more than just a bed for the night. Inspired by the sea, local history, and traditional lifestyles, Melnsils has built several unusual cabins for immersing oneself in the rugged coastal landscape.
Latvian residents' investments in savings bonds have skyrocketed to 150 million euros.
Baltic states, including Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, have reached a significant agreement to disconnect from the Russian-controlled by early 2025
While still a practical mobility aid for seniors and hikers, the generously patterned and colorful wooden walking stick has also become a symbol of the Latvian town of Sigulda. It is a much-loved souvenir item, and you can even make your own version.
An aim is to develop new environmentally-friendly data centers and improve optical fiber networks in the region.
Ignitis Group aims to establish the most extensive fast-charging network in the Baltic States.
20 investment initiatives were greenlighted for this year, which are anticipated to generate 1160 jobs.
Almost a century ago, Slovenian engineer Herman "Noordung" Potočnik published his innovative concept for long-term human habitation of space. As is often the case with visionaries, hardly anyone took him seriously at first.
Latvia is working towards definitive disconnection from the Russian and Belarusian-controlled network.
A historical narrow-gauge railway in North Latvia connects the towns of Gulbene and Alūksne and charming villages along the way. This part of the country is an ideal destination for railway-themed trips.
Funds will help 1500 companies to develop their business ventures and innovative ideas.
Canada will double its troop presence in Latvia as part of a CAD 2.6 billion program, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed on July 10th.
Latvia has been granted Category 1 status by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), enabling direct commercial flights to the US.
The Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) and Rigas Siltums AS have agreed on a 10-year, EUR 20 million investment program to upgrade the district heating infrastructure in Rīga, Latvia.
The World Latvian Economics and Innovation Forum (WLEIF) 2023 is being held in Riga, marking its 10th year of fostering connections between Latvian entrepreneurs and those in diaspora.
The central Baltic State has for centuries remained under foreign rule. But the strong spirit of Latvians enveloped the land giving it its wild, unfading character.
Russian investments in Latvian companies have decreased to €322.01 million, a 55.54% drop compared to 2016.
Latvian startup Aerones has taken on the challenge of introducing robotic solutions to servicing wind turbines, which constitute an important renewable solution for the future. The product has gained widespread attention.
A 17th-century love story between a German nobleman and a Polish aristocrat sparked the formation of a unique Catholic community that still exists in Latvia today. The Suiti are a remarkable and hardy people.
Once home to Soviet army officers tasked with spying on the West, today the Latvian town of Irbene is the site of advanced space research. The VIRAC has given a new lease of life to the two giant radio telescopes it inherited.
This eel-like creature in Latvia is much more than a simple food item. The lamprey contributes to the identity of some coastal towns. Every year, locals and visitors indulge in festivals dedicated to the fish.
If only camping trips weren’t so challenging… Latvia’s BeTriton has a solution! Their amphibious electric vehicle allows crossing terrain and water at ease and eliminates the need to pitch a tent at night.
A distant relative of Spanish gazpacho, the cold soup of Lithuania, Poland, and Latvia involves beetroot instead of tomato. The one ingredient they do share is cucumber. Both suit their respective climates at either end of Europe.
Vilhelms Purvītis laid the foundations for Latvian landscape painting. His emotive works capture the fragile beauty of nature throughout the seasons in unrivaled detail. Still today, he is a revered cultural figure.
Organs-on-a-chip are not a thing of nightmares. Quite the contrary, Latvian startup, Cellbox Labs, is pioneering a way for this smart technology to revolutionize drug discovery.
A man of many talents, Raimonds Pauls is best known for his work as a composer and pianist. Fast approaching 90 years of age, the acclaimed Latvian musician still performs, charming audiences with his catchy melodies.
Residents of Valka, Latvia, and Valga, Estonia, come and go freely, living in one country and shopping, studying, or working in the other, illustrating the human value of open borders. Visitors can explore both within a day or two.
You could be forgiven for thinking a blue cow is something out of fiction. But it is, in fact, real and roams the fields of Latvia along with another local breed – the Latvian Brown.
In true start-up fashion, Fermentful took two existing products – buckwheat and kefir – and found how they could work together to create something new. Their plant-based drinks are a gut-and-planet-friendly alternative to the original dairy beverage.
Rye bread is a staple of the Latvian diet. Delicious by the slice, it's also a key ingredient in several unusual sweet and savory recipes. You can try many of them at themed festivals and stops along the Rye Road tourism route.
People all over the world wear pants, bras, and pajamas made in Latvia. A lot of the garments originate from Liepāja. How did this coastal city become the Northern country’s unofficial capital of lingerie?
The emotive architecture of one of Riga's most prominent buildings speaks of the Latvian nation's strength, courage, and endurance. This is the home of the National Library of Latvia – a contemporary center of knowledge and culture.
Some of Riga's wooden buildings date as far back as the 18th century. Witnesses of wars, power struggles, and transformation, the sturdy structures are a living archive. What is their status today?
A song, which some Latvians would like to see become the national anthem, has become an unofficial anthem of a faraway place - Catalonia. The Catalan independence movement gave the song new lyrics and meaning with the composer's blessing.
Found in bathroom cabinets around Latvia, the ointment is said to help ease colds and soothe burns and muscle aches in humans and pets. While several products co-exist on the market, only one claims to be the real Evija.
The RAF Latvija minibus, a close relative of the Volkswagen Type 2, never managed to achieve the same legendary status as its competitor beyond the borders of the Soviet Union. But then again, it was little more than an inferior copy, after all.
Though merchant Levi Strauss is mainly credited for the invention of jeans, little would have happened in this area if not for Latvian-born tailor Jacob Davis. In 1871 in Reno, Nevada, Davis found denim to be the perfect fabric for workhorse pants.
Riga Black Balsam, concocted by a pharmacist in the mid-18th century, was used as a magic cure for numerous diseases. Today it's a drink, cocktail ingredient, cure for indigestion, and, most importantly, Latvia's pride.
Developing since the 1980s, Latvia's sea buckthorn industry is now well and truly ripe. Not only is export on the rise, but growers are creating new products to introduce people to the vitamin-packed berry and its powers.
Although interwar Poland had unrealized ambitions to become a colonial empire, the truth is that at some point, in fact, it was one. Here’s the surprising history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth as a seafaring metropolis.
As Riga grew exponentially in the early 20th century, some one-third of all the buildings in the historical center of the city center were built in this style.
Koffeco, a sustainably-minded science-based startup from Latvia, sees spent coffee grounds as a resource. The team transforms organic waste into new products, contributing to a circular economy.
Eponymous with both luxury supercars and the designer of the Beetle, the most renowned democratic car of the first half of the 20th century, Ferdinand Porsche is the most important Czech-Austrian contribution to automotive history.
During Stalinist times, this now-Estonian town evaporated from the map as it turned into a militarized zone and a source of uranium ore for the Soviet nuclear program.
A ritual of great importance on Latvian family calendars, the Cemetery Festival gathers relatives from near and far. The curious day’s events are less about mourning and more about celebrating life and togetherness.
CEE countries lost almost 50 years stuck on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain. Although the Berlin Wall fell more than three decades ago, they still have not managed to make up for the years wasted by communism.
When World War Two ended in Central Europe and the Iron Curtain, as famously called by Winston Churchill, descended “from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic,” the eastern side of the curtain began filling with monuments of victory. In August 2022, yet another of those monuments fell.
Slovenia is literally flowing with honey. Since the 11th century, beekeeping has been an essential part of Slovenian culture, an inspiration for art and design, and the backbone of local tourism. Professional beekeeping is so rooted in Slovenia that one in two hundred Slovenes is a beekeeper.
Rationalism - the keyword in the creation of Latvian nationhood and statehood. How the modern Latvian nation came into being, and what rational considerations guided its founding fathers.
Is this real life? Is this a fantasy? In Croatia, former Yugoslavia, you can explore abandoned underground airbases. Some of them, like Željava, even have a history of daring escapes from the war-torn country.
In 1977, a vinyl record featuring the Bulgarian folk song "Izlel ye Delyo Haydutin" (Eng: Come out rebel Delyo) began its journey aboard the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecrafts. The song's journey continues to this day.
3SeasEurope spoke with Beata Daszyńska-Muzyczka, the Chairperson of the Supervisory Board of the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, about her thoughts on the 3SI intra-regional cooperation and what can the Initiative do for the Western Balkans 6 and Ukraine.
Spanning an impressive 249 meters, Ventas Rumba is the widest waterfall on the Old Continent. This width makes up for its relatively modest 2-meter height. Each year on midsummer's eve, the waterfall is the setting for a stark sight - as in a stark naked one - as revelers streak across the nearby bridge in the moonlight.
After joining the Réseau Art Nouveau Network in 2012, Oradea, Romania, received the title of Best Art Nouveau Destination within just ten years. How did it achieve this? And more importantly, why is everyone falling in love with this small city on the river?
In just three years, Romanian cyber-security start-up TypingDNA took over the world and was listed by FinTechGlobal in their CyberTech100 ranking - twice. Who are they, what do they do, and how do they do it?
The success of Polish eCommerce delivery provider InPost has rewritten the map for deliveries in Poland and beyond, with Automated Parcel Machines becoming the go-to choice for people who want to be able to receive packages at all times and without having to pay a fortune.