Cat House & Līvu Square
Kaķu nams / Līvu laukums
A legendary Art Nouveau building with two black cat statues on its towers, turning their backs on the Great Guild, facing the lively Livu Square and the Great and Small Guild halls.
The House of the Cats is an Art Nouveau building completed in 1909. Two black cats, each with an arched back and upright tail, stand on its towers. According to legend, the owner was a Latvian merchant who was refused membership in the Great Guild, which was dominated by Germans. In protest he had the cats turned to face their rear toward the guild building. After a lawsuit, the cats were turned around. The story became Riga's most famous urban legend. Across the square are the Great Guild (Lielā ģilde, now home to the Latvian National Symphony's concert hall) and the Small Guild. These were guild houses for medieval German merchants and craftsmen, and they have 19th-century English Gothic Revival exteriors. Livu Square is packed with outdoor bars in summer and makes a good place to rest.
Opening hours
All day (exterior only)
Nearby sights
- Powder Tower & Latvian War Museum
- Art Museum Riga Bourse
- Bastejkalns Park & City Canal
- St. Peter's Church
- House of the Blackheads & Town Hall Square
- Museum of the Occupation of Latvia
- Riga Cathedral
- Three Brothers & Swedish Gate