Trīs brāļi

Trīs brāļi brings three adjoining medieval houses together in Riga’s Old Town, forming the city’s oldest surviving residential complex. Side by side, their facades trace late Gothic, early Renaissance, Dutch Mannerist, and Baroque influences.

The oldest house dates from the late fifteenth century and shows stepped gables, Gothic details, and early Renaissance features. Its original interior held one large room and an attic for storage. Pēteris Saulītis restored it during the 1950s, incorporating fragments from destroyed or lost buildings. The middle house dates from 1646 and carries a Dutch Mannerist facade with the inscription “Soli Deo Gloria” above its entrance. A stone portal, added in 1746, came from the oldest house during restoration.

The narrowest house dates from the second half of the seventeenth century and bears a protective mask on its facade. Small apartments once occupied each floor, contrasting with the larger open rooms of its neighbours. The complex houses the Latvian Museum of Architecture and the State Inspection for Heritage Protection. Inside, exhibits include a reconstructed room from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries and a restored fireplace with a fifteenth- or sixteenth-century chimney. The buildings received the European Heritage Label in 2020.