Latvian Riflemen Monument — Soviet Monumental Sculpture, Riga

Latvian Riflemen MonumentSoviet Monumental Sculpture  ·  Riga

Key facts

Style

Soviet Monumental Sculpture

Completed

1971

Location

Strēlnieku laukums, Riga

Photos

4

Photographed

Latvian Riflemen Monument

Three riflemen in red granite stand back to back on the square beside the Daugava, unveiled in 1971. The Latvian Riflemen were formed under the Russian Empire in the First World War, and a part of them went on to serve as Bolshevik units — which is the reading the Soviet monument was built to endorse.

That history is exactly why the monument is still argued about. It has not been removed, and the debate about whether it commemorates Latvian soldiers or Soviet ones has never been settled. It stands directly opposite the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.

Photographs and text by Dicky Chan · shot on iPhone, on foot

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Latvian Riflemen Monument — Gallery

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