Memorial to Janis Cakste in Riga

Pictures and text by Mark R. Hatlie

These pictures were taken in Riga during the first week of September, 2007. This memorial to the first president of Latvia (1922-1927) is located at the end of a long, wide, straight alley in the Meza kapi cemetery.

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	This stone memorializes the presidents sons who are also buried here.
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	During the communist period this view was blocked by a row of trees in front of the gravesite so nobody could see the Cakste memorial. Off to the left of the memorial there was a small guard hut where Soviet police kept an eye on visitors.
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	This is the view looking back toward the entrance to the cemetery. The graves in this row between the trees were reserved for communists.
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