The longest building in Riga was built in the second half of the 18th century. It was the Yakovlevskie Barracks, built to quarter Russian soldiers. Previously, there were also barracks on this site, but for Swedish troops, who for a long time before that had been housed in ordinary residential buildings, which was inconvenient both for the people of Riga and for the subjects of Charles XI.
When Riga was captured by Russian troops, the issue of housing the garrison resolved itself, only a little later the dilapidated Swedish barracks were rebuilt. They got their name from the Yakovlevsky Bastion, which was located nearby.
Thanks to the versatility of the premises, various organizations managed to occupy the barracks: a statistical bureau, a school, a labor exchange, and in Soviet times, the Military Projects Bureau and a flight school. The major renovation and restoration of the 237-meter building took place in 1995-97 and cost 6 million dollars.
At present, the Yakovlevskie Barracks belong to commercial organizations. Various shops, beauty salons, bank branches, as well as several very cozy cafes are located here, where you can pleasantly spend time over a cup of coffee while getting acquainted with this interesting architectural monument in the Dutch classicism style.
