Where Bizarre Reigns Supreme

Riga, Latvia

Aug 7, 2025

They are scattered around Riga, reputedly some eight hundred of them. But there is one street where they seem concentrated, one after the other in a row. The buildings on Alberta street are all art nouveau, built largely in the early 1900s when Riga commanded a privileged position in the Hanseatic League and boasted wealth derived from its robust shipping industry.

Look closely at the façades and you see a mind-boggling plethora of details. They are in the cornices, in the pillars, in the balconies, in the lintels, in the pediments, in the window arches and above doors. Riga is the undisputed queen of Art Nouveau architecture and it shows.

Look closer still and you see images. Some are men, some women. It is the expressions on these faces that are bizarre! Some are smiling, some are impassive and some wear enigmatic expressions. Some wear turbans, some a veil and some an old-style Dutch cap. Each time I look, I discover a new facet or face, even stranger than the others.

And some seem to be screaming in anger or wear an expression of agony. I know little about this genre of art but do know that this movement’s focus was portraying intense emotions. But a mask of silent screaming? Methinks ‘tis a recipe for nightmares.

Nor are they all humans. Intermingled are images of peacocks, goat skulls, lions and even a pair of sphinxes on either side of the entrance to one building.

Some are beyond strange. One looks like it is wearing a helmet that is a cross between an astronaut’s and a knight’s. A woman has spikes emanating from her head. A trio that look like they are having a conversation while another laughs from above. And one there is one that looks like Puck from Shakespeare.

While the Art Nouveau buildings have a monopoly on bizarre, a couple of other buildings are not far behind. One is called the Cat House, courtesy of the crouching felines atop each turret.