Alberta Iela (Albert Street), Riga (must see)

Alberta iela is a street in central Riga known for its Art Nouveau buildings. It was built in 1901 and named after Bishop Albert who founded Riga in 1201.

Many of the apartment buildings along the street were designed by the Russian architect Mikhail Eisenstein who was particularly active in Riga at the beginning of the twentieth century. The architectural style makes use of structural and decorative elements of romantic nationalism common to northern Europe at the time.

Konstantīns Pēkšēns and Eižens Laube, a teacher and his pupil respectively, were prominent in building design on the street at the same time. Other authors of buildings of Alberta iela include Baltic and Baltic German architects Paul Mandelstamm, Hermann Hilbig and Heinrich Scheel.

Since April 2009 Pēkšēns' former residence at number 12 has housed the Riga Art Nouveau Museum. A number of institutions of higher education are located on the street or adjacent; the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, the Riga Graduate School of Law and the College of Business Administration. The embassies of Belgium and Ireland are also located on Alberta iela.