Mezaparks

Mezaparks was laid out from 1901 on pine forest north of the centre as one of the first garden cities in Europe, built to the Howard model with detached wooden and brick villas on large plots among the trees, curving streets and no through traffic, and a great many of those houses survive, which makes it an unusually complete example of the type. Within it are the Riga Zoo, opened 1912 on the shore of Lake Kisezers, and the Great Bandstand, the open-air stage where the Song and Dance Celebration is held every five years with choirs of tens of thousands, rebuilt for the 2023 festival. The lake shore, paths through the pines and a park complete it.

What you actually see

• The garden city villas - the early twentieth-century houses among the pines.
• The Great Bandstand - the Song Celebration stage and its arena.
• Riga Zoo - the zoological garden on the lake shore.
• Lake Kisezers - the water and the paths along it.

When to go

May to September for the park and the lake; the Song and Dance Celebration falls every five years in summer and fills the city entirely. The zoo works year round. Weekends bring Riga families.

Honest expectations

The villas are private houses and nothing is open to visit; this is a walk. The Bandstand is empty outside events. The zoo is dated in parts. Distances within the district are substantial.

Nearby

Central Riga lies south; the Song Festival grounds are in the park.