House of the Blackheads

The House of the Blackheads (Melngalvju nams) stands at Rātslaukums 7 on Town Hall Square in Riga's Old Town, Latvia. It was built in 1334 as a guild and meeting hall and later became the home of the Brotherhood of Blackheads, an association of unmarried foreign merchants, shipowners and foreigners in Riga. The Blackheads took St. Maurice, a Black African saint, as their patron, and his head appears in the brotherhood's emblem, which gave the society its name. The building acquired its famous Dutch Mannerist facade in 1620, with stepped gables, sculpted figures and an astronomical clock face, and the interiors were furnished with ceremonial halls used for banquets and festivities. The brotherhood, which also entertained visiting dignitaries including Russian tsars, owned the house until the 20th century. The building was heavily damaged in a German air raid in 1941 and the ruins were demolished by Soviet authorities in 1948, which cleared the whole square. After Latvian independence, a reconstruction campaign began in 1995 and was completed in 1999, in time for Riga's 800th anniversary in 2001 celebrations, using historic drawings and photographs to recreate the facade. The reconstructed house is a rebuilt monument rather than a surviving medieval structure, and its architecture is a faithful modern recreation of the 1620 appearance. Inside, the Festive Hall and White Hall are ornate rooms used for official functions, and the cellar holds archaeological remains and exhibits relating to the destruction and rebuilding. Displays include silverware belonging to the Blackheads, historic furniture and an exhibition on the history of the building and the brotherhood. Opposite the house stands the statue of Roland, a symbol of the city's medieval trading rights, in a copy of the original in the Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation. The house is among the most photographed sites in Riga and a stop on most walking tours of the UNESCO-listed Old Town.