House of the Blackheads, Riga: Tickets & Prices
45 min - 1 h
Guild Hall & Museum
First built 1334; Renaissance facade added 1620; destroyed by German artillery 29 June 1941, ruins demolished 1948; rebuilt 1996-2000, reopened 9 December 1999
Rātslaukums 7, Riga, LV-1050, Latvia
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Practical Visitor Info & Tips
€10.00
€6 (Students/Seniors); Free (Pre-school children)
Daily 10:00-17:00, with occasional closures around public holidays and private events — check the official site before visiting.
No advance booking required for individual visitors; ticket sold on-site at Rātslaukums 7. Hours occasionally change around public holidays and private events.
Entry to the reconstructed 1334 guild hall of the Brotherhood of Blackheads (rebuilt 1996-2000 after 1941 wartime destruction and 1948 Soviet demolition of the ruins), including its medieval cellar exhibition and building-history displays.
| Option | Price | Booking | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | €10 | On-site at Rātslaukums 7 | |
| Student / Senior | €6 | On-site, valid ID required | |
| Pre-school children | Free | On-site | |
| With Riga Pass | Discount not confirmed | Verify current inclusion directly with rigapass.lv before relying on it |
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Ticket Options
€10.00
Check whether a city pass already covers this attraction before buying separately.
See pass compatibility below ↓Overview & History
The House of the Blackheads is Riga's most photographed building, an ornately gabled guild hall on Town Hall Square first built in 1334 to host the Brotherhood of Blackheads — unmarried Hanseatic merchants and craftsmen, mostly of German descent. The original building took its Dutch Renaissance facade in 1620, was gutted by German artillery fire on 29 June 1941, and had its ruins controversially demolished by Soviet authorities in 1948 despite local protests. It was rebuilt from 1996-2000 using 1980s architectural studies and reopened on 9 December 1999 in time for Riga's 800th anniversary. Today it houses a museum on the guild's history and the building's reconstruction, alongside a preserved medieval cellar.
What to See: Top Highlights
The Reconstructed Guild Hall
Ornate stepped gables, sculpted facade details, and a step-by-step account of how the building was recreated from historic photographs and 1980s architectural surveys after total wartime destruction.
The Medieval Cellar
Original vaulted cellar spaces beneath the hall, among the few structural elements to survive from the pre-1941 building, now used for exhibitions.
The Brotherhood's History
Exhibits on the Brotherhood of Blackheads — named for their patron saint, Maurice, traditionally depicted as a Black African soldier-saint — and their role in Hanseatic-era Riga's trade and civic life.
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Is the House of the Blackheads Included on a Riga City Pass?
Compare Riga PassesNo confirmed free entry or discount could be verified. Neither Go City nor Turbopass operates in Riga (confirmed absent from both providers' own published destination lists), and the private Riga Pass discount club (rigapass.lv) does not publish a verifiable, machine-readable inclusion list confirming this attraction — treat any pass discount as unconfirmed.
Individual ticket
Buy directly on-site at Rātslaukums 7 or via the museum's official site.
Riga Pass (private, discount club)
A commission-based discount product, not a confirmed free-entry pass — inclusion of this attraction could not be verified.
Data Provenance
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SponsoredProvided by our commercial partner GetYourGuide — bookings made through this section may earn LocalExperiences a commission. See our Editorial Transparency page.
Frequently Asked Questions
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