Taking up the whole block on Raina Boulevard, Inzhenieru Street and Merkela Street in the downtown of Latvia’s capital is the main building of the University of Latvia. But the university didn’t always exist there.
Under Russian rule in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Tsar’s offer to establish a university in Latvia was repeatedly rejected by the rulers in Riga, who feared that such an institution could become a breeding ground for opposition to the established order. …
