Although Riga's first airport came into being during WWI, the Soviets decided to make it the most important aviation hub in the Baltics after WWII and built a correspondingly impressive hall to inspire awe in the passengers that arrived here. Completed in 1954, this is one of the few Stalinist-era edifices still in existence in the Latvian capital and its stark and imposing exterior adorned with a huge hammer and sickle above the entrance is the complete opposite of its grand hall, which looks like something that Liberace might have created if he had become a communist propagandist designer instead of a flamboyant entertainer. Completely renovated in 2012, now the public can gaze in wonder at its Soviet murals and wedding cake accoutrements and peruse a few antique airplanes on the left bank of the River Daugava. Take bus No.3 from Stockmann in the direction of Bolderāja to the Māju celtniecības kombināts or Cementa šifera rūpnīca stop.
Admission: 1Ls.
Shot and edited by Nienke Bos
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