Not far from the “Three Brothers” on Jēkaba iela 11 there is a famous architectural monument of newer times: Vidzeme House of the Knighthood (presently the Saeima (Parliament) of the Republic of Latvia. It was built in 1863 to 1867 after a design by Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis (1834 – 1891), the first academically educated Latvian architect, and his colleague Roberts Pflūgs (1832 - 1885). The authors of this respectable historic building derived their inspiration from the Renaissance period in the architecture of Florence Castles. In 1900 – 1903 the House of the Knighthood was considerably expanded (author of the design - Vilhelms Neimanis), but in the forthcoming decades its interiors were changed several times. |