Exhibition charts the interesting history of 'Victory Park'

Take note – story published 1 year ago

Uzvaras parks (Victory Park) in Rīga was the scene of one of this year's major news stories when a Soviet-era monument was spectacularly toppled, as reported by LSM at the time.

However, there is much more to Victory Park than most people think. Its history pre-dates the Soviet occupation period and even the name has nothing to do with World War II. 

November 24 sees the opening of a new exhibition titled "History of Victory Park in the period 1621-2022" which will be open to the public in the square outside the Latvian War Museum in Rīga.

"I invite everyone to see the unique exhibition about Victory Park created by the historians of the Latvian War Museum and learn about the many important events for the country of Latvia that took place here. We have the opportunity to build and develop this territory in such a way as to promote the cohesion and unity of Latvian society," said Defese Minister Artis Pabriks ahead of the exhibition's opening. 

The idea of ​​creating a park arose in 1909, when the Riga City Council decided to build a park in this place in Pārdaugava, which also provided for several public buildings - a children's playground, a pavilion and a field for sports classes. The ceremonial opening of the future park took place in 1910, and it was initially named Peter's Park.

In 1923, the Riga City Council, celebrating the fourth anniversary of victory in 1919 independence battles, decided to rename Peter's Park as Victory Park. 

In 1936, the Law on the Construction of Victory Square in Riga was adopted, which also included the creation of a square intended for army parades and Song Festivals and in June 1938 the 9th General Song Festival was held there, on November 18, 1938, the twentieth anniversary of the Republic of Latvia was celebrated, and in 1939, the twentieth anniversary of the Latvian Defenders Organization.

It wasn't until the 1970s that extensive construction of WWII monuments was started throughout the Soviet Union, and the idea of ​​building a monument in Rīga also arose. The monument in Victory Park was opened on November 5, 1985 – much later than many people assume.

In Victory Park, the dismantling of the monument complex began on August 23 of this year, and on August 25, the monument complex was completely dismantled as you can see below in a video clip that never gets old.

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