House of the Blackheads

You’ve probably spotted from afar the magnificent orange façade of the House of the Blackheads. With its richly decorated Northern Mannerist style, its sculptures, clocks, mythological figures such as Neptune and Mercury, and its many gilded details, it immediately evokes the prosperity of Riga’s maritime merchants. Built in 1334 as a warehouse and meeting place for traders, it became the headquarters of the prestigious Brotherhood of the Blackheads in the 15th century- a guild reserved for young unmarried merchants, shipowners, and foreign traders settled in the city. Its name comes from their patron saint, Saint Maurice, a 3rd-century African Christian knight traditionally depicted with dark skin, whose head appeared on their emblem. Highly influential, the brotherhood organised banquets here, received distinguished guests, and even took part in the defence of the city in times of conflict. Destroyed during the bombings of 1941 and then completely demolished after the war, the House of the Blackheads disappeared for nearly half a century before being rebuilt between 1996 and 2000 thanks to a vast public effort in which thousands of residents took part, each symbolically funding a brick. It even served as a temporary presidential residence between 2012 and 2016. Look up to spot the astronomical clock, it doesn’t just display the time, it also shows the phases of the moon, the signs of the zodiac, the date, the days, and the months, as mastering time and natural cycles was essential for trade and navigation. At the centre of the façade, several symbolic figures complete this decoration: Neptune, god of the seas, represents maritime trade; Mercury, god of travellers and merchants, evokes land-based exchanges; while the allegories of Peace and Harmony remind us that prosperity also depended on stability and unity among traders. Can you tell them apart?