Prāgas iela
The Central Market (Latvian: Centrāltirgus, formerly Russian Market) in Riga is one of the oldest and largest markets in Europe, distinguished by the original design of the pavilions. The area of the market is 5.7 hectares.
For a long time, on the territory of the Moscow
outskirts of Riga, there was a Russian market, next to which the
Riga-Ryn Orthodox Church and the first Russian school in Livonia, the
Riga Catherine School (1789), were built.
Even before the First
World War, the mayor of Riga, George Armitstead, planned a complete
reconstruction of the main city market, which at that time was located
on the Daugava embankment. The history of this market has more than five
centuries. The project for the construction of a new market was adopted
in 1910, but due to the outbreak of the First World War, its
implementation had to be postponed. It also failed to implement plans to
build a railway line between the city canal and the Red Barns area.
After the war, already in the early 1920s, the city authorities were
forced to return to the project of a new market. The old market, which
occupied an area of 22,000 m², did not meet elementary requirements
for a long time. Food in street stalls could not be stored for a long
time: according to statistics, the annual damage from food spoilage was
approximately 2 million lats. The delivery and unloading of goods was
also difficult, which caused considerable inconvenience to the owners of
outlets in the old market.
Hangars for zeppelins
Therefore, on
December 28, 1922, the Riga City Council decided to build a new city
market. For these purposes, it was supposed to purchase hangars for
storing zeppelins, which were located far from Riga, in the military
town of Vainode. In wartime, these hangars were abandoned by the
Kaiser's Iron Division, and in peacetime they stood empty and unclaimed.
To adapt the hangars to the needs of the market, a competition was
announced, which received seven projects. The project of the architect
Pauls Dreimanis was recognized as the best, which provides for not just
the reorganization of the hangar structures. The author approached the
task more broadly and developed a project to create a new model of the
Riga market. This project was approved, and students of the University
of Latvia began to develop it. The direct executors were the engineers
G. Tolstoy, V. Isaev, and the organizer of the work was the architect P.
Pavlov. These people worked under the direct supervision of the
commission for the construction of the market complex.
The
project stipulated that five hangars had to be turned into five
pavilions for trade. One, the largest pavilion, was supposed to
accommodate meat processing rooms and a space for wholesale trade.
Retailers were given a separate pavilion for the "meat business". The
other two pavilions sold fish, dairy and meat products, and the last one
was equipped for selling everything else - fruits, vegetables, broken
poultry, confectionery.
In June 1924, two red barns were
demolished, but it soon became clear that the amounts requested for
construction were significantly higher than the original cost estimate.
This caused a protest from the municipality, and the construction was
temporarily frozen. Since 1928, it has been renewed and entered the
final stage. November 2, 1930 can be considered the birthday of the
largest covered market in Northern Europe. He also automatically took
the first line in the ranking of the largest buildings in Riga before
the Second World War.
Initially, it was assumed that the market
for such an original design would inevitably arouse interest among the
guests of the capital - and it turned out. And at present, the five
pavilions of the Central Market of Riga can be considered unique in
their own way. In total, six hangars have been preserved in Europe, of
which five were adapted for the needs of trade. In the constructions of
the pavilions, one can see the features of functional modernity,
neoclassical style, which was widespread in Riga before the war. Some
details of the facades are decorated in the Art Deco style. Under the
pavilions, underground storages and refrigeration units are equipped.
The market in the Soviet period
In Soviet times, the markets
became collective farms, while the possibility of trading in the
products of household plots remained. In the mid-1970s, only 62 trading
places on the Central Market were occupied by collective farms, and 800
by individual farmers. At the same time, there were 144 outlets of state
organizations selling industrial goods on the market, while 21
collective farms were waiting in line to provide a place for trade. The
authorities were concerned about the fact that there were not enough
hotel places on the territory of the market to accommodate traders.
The markets were subordinated to the profile department of the
Ministry of Trade of the Latvian SSR. However, by the beginning of the
1980s, there were 5 markets in Riga: 4 historical markets (Central,
Matveevsky, Agenskalns and Chiekurkalns) and one new one - in the
Vecmilgravis microdistrict. Despite the fact that 40-50 markets opened
annually in the republic, not a single one was opened in Riga for 50
years. The standard - 2 trading places on the market for every thousand
inhabitants - was only 80% fulfilled in the capital. Therefore, the
institute "Latgiprogorstroy" has developed a project for the development
of collective farm markets in Riga. First of all, it provided for the
improvement of working conditions in the markets, of which only 7 out of
51 stationary premises had heating, including 3 markets in Riga. It was
planned to connect the Central Market to the CHPP.
The Decree of
the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the
USSR "On additional measures to expand the sale of fruits and vegetables
by collective farms, state farms and other agricultural enterprises to
consumer cooperation organizations and in collective farm markets"
(1982) allowed these organizations to sell their products in the markets
not at state, but at contractual prices in the amount of not more than
10% of the planned production and above-plan production without
restrictions. Restrictions on the export and sale of vegetables, melons,
fruits and berries and other products from other republics of the Soviet
Union were also lifted, which increased the supply of these products to
the markets.
In the markets of Riga and in other parts of the
city there were shops of the association “Rigaplodoovoshch”, which
delivered potatoes and vegetables to the house.
Options
Total
area: 5.9 ha.
Covered area: 1.6 ha.
The length of the tunnel
connecting the pavilions: 339 meters.
Total sewerage length: 2350
meters.
Length of external plumbing structure: 1000 meters.
Used
in construction:
bricks: 6 million
cement: 70,000 barrels.
iron: 2470 tons.
Treasury spent: a little over 5 million lats.