Ambassade de France en Lettonie

Gallery Location Quiz Nearby Places Ambassade Historique Relations diplomatiques Communauté française Circonscriptions électorales Références

L'ambassade de France en Lettonie est la représentation diplomatique de la République française auprès de la république de Lettonie. Elle est située à Riga, la capitale du pays, et son ambassadeur est, depuis 2024, Manuel Lafont Rapnouil.

Gallery

Location

2 explorers visited this place

Nearby Places

Riga State Gymnasium No.1

Riga State Gymnasium No.1, the oldest school in the Baltic states, is a state secondary school in Riga, Latvia, providing education for grades 7 to 12. The school traces its origins to the Riga Cathedral monastery school, which was founded in 1211, when Bishop Albert established Riga’s cathedral chapter and its monastery. The school operated in the cloister of Riga Cathedral and was originally intended for the preparation of Catholic clergy; its curriculum followed the medieval Latin-school tradition. In 1524, during Reformation-era unrest, the Catholic monastery school was closed; in 1528 the Riga City Council reopened it as a secular municipal school and appointed the Dutch Calvinist preacher Jacobus Battus as its first rector in the re-established form. In 1874 it moved into its present premises at Raiņa bulvāris 8, a purpose-built school building designed by Riga’s chief architect Johans Daniels Felsko. The language of instruction was German from the school's foundation until 1892, when during the Russification period, the school was converted into a classical gymnasium and later a state gymnasium with Russian as the main language. Latvian became the main language of instruction in 1919. After 1919 the school’s name and status changed repeatedly under successive regimes; following the restoration of Latvian independence it regained the name “Rīgas 1. ģimnāzija”, and in 1996 it was renamed “Rīgas Valsts 1. ģimnāzija”. Today, the gymnasium specialises in mathematics, natural sciences and computer science and is widely recognised for its high academic performance in these fields. Admission to the school is based on a competitive entrance examination in mathematics, with up to ten applicants competing for each available place, making it one of the most selective secondary schools in Latvia. Since 1997, the school has operated the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme, enrolling approximately 30 students annually. Instruction in the IB programme is conducted in English, providing an internationally oriented academic track alongside the Latvian national curriculum. It was the first school in the Baltic states to offer the IBO Diploma Programme. Each year, a number of final-year students complete the Deutsches Sprachdiplom programme by sitting the DSD examination in addition to the Latvian state graduation exams. Riga State Gymnasium No.1 ranks first among Latvian secondary schools in national performance evaluations. Its students achieve the highest average results in centralised state examinations nationwide. The school is also recognised for its sustained success in various national and international academic Olympiads and subject competitions, particularly in mathematics, physics, informatics and the natural sciences, where its students regularly receive top distinctions. Many graduates continue their studies at universities abroad, including leading institutions in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, and the United States.

School

Kalpaka Boulevard Library

The Kalpaka Boulevard Library is a branch of the University of Latvia libraries located on its eponymous street in central Riga, Latvia. It is housed in a historic mansion built between 1874 and 1878 to designs of Jānis Frīdrihs Baumanis. It is technically the newest branch library of the University of Latvia, and is used primarily for research by the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Library University

Brīvības iela

Brīvības iela is the central street of Riga, the capital and most populous city of Latvia. It is more than 12 km long, cutting across all of Riga, from the historical centre to the outskirts and the city limits.

Landmark Neighbourhood

Freedom Monument

The Freedom Monument is a monument located in Riga, Latvia, honouring soldiers killed during the Latvian War of Independence. It is considered an important symbol of the freedom, independence, and sovereignty of Latvia. Unveiled in 1935, the 42-metre high monument of granite, travertine, and copper often serves as the focal point of public gatherings and official ceremonies in Riga. The sculptures and bas-reliefs of the monument, arranged in thirteen groups, depict Latvian culture and history. The core of the monument is composed of tetragonal shapes on top of each other, decreasing in size towards the top, completed by a 19-metre high travertine column bearing the copper figure of Liberty lifting three gilded stars. The concept for the monument first emerged in the early 1920s when the Latvian prime minister, Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics, ordered rules to be drawn up for a contest for designs of a "memorial column". After several contests the monument was finally built at the beginning of the 1930s according to the scheme "Mirdzi kā zvaigzne!" submitted by Latvian sculptor Kārlis Zāle. Construction works were financed by private donations. Following the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, Latvia was annexed by the Soviet Union and the Freedom Monument was considered for demolition, but no such move was carried out. Soviet sculptor Vera Mukhina is sometimes credited for rescuing the monument, because she considered it to be of high artistic value. In 1963, when the issue of demolition was raised again, it was dismissed by Soviet authorities as the destruction of the monument would have caused deep indignation and tension in society. During the Soviet era, it remained a symbol of national independence to the general public. Indeed, on 14 June 1987, about 5,000 people gathered at the monument to lay flowers. This rally renewed the national independence movement, which culminated three years later in the re-establishment of Latvian sovereignty after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The female figure at the top of the Freedom Monument is affectionately called Milda, because, according to Lithuanian author Arvydas Juozaitis, the model for the sculpture was a Lithuanian woman Milda Jasikienė, who lived in Riga. However, the Riga Monument Agency says there are no historical records supporting this claim.

Historic Site Landmark

Bastejkalns Park

Bastejkalns Park is a spacious park on the northern edge of the old town of Latvian capital Riga.

Park

More nearby places... Discovery

Ambassade

L'ambassade est située au no 9 de Raina bulvaris, dans le centre-ville historique de Riga. Elle accueille aussi une section consulaire.

Historique

Le bâtiment de l'actuelle ambassade de France à Riga a été construit en 1873 par un marchand allemand du nom de Jacob Hammer pour sa fille Nathalie Emma Mentzendorf, sur l'une des plus belles avenues de la ville : le boulevard de l'Héritier. Sa façade bleue donne toute son originalité à l'édifice. Celui-ci a été agrandi à plusieurs reprises à la fin du XIXe siècle. Après la déclaration d'indépendance de la Lettonie, le bâtiment devient le siège des légations et consulats de plusieurs États européens : la France, l'Espagne et le Royaume-Uni. Lors de l'annexion soviétique du pays en 1940, l'édifice est nationalisé puis devient en 1943 le siège de l'occupation allemande. Après la guerre, c'est le Parquet général soviétique qui s'y installe, avant de céder à nouveau les lieux à l'ambassadeur de France Jacques de Beausse nommé en 1991 après la restauration de l'indépendance, lui-même fils du ministre-adjoint de la légation d'avant-guerre. L'ambassade est officiellement inaugurée en 1992, lors de la visite du président français François Mitterrand, premier chef d'État occidental à se rendre dans le pays.

Relations diplomatiques

La France a soutenu l'indépendance de la Lettonie en 1919, grâce, en particulier, à un soutien militaire conjoint avec la Grande-Bretagne. Elle a reconnu le nouvel État le 28 avril 1920 et a ouvert sa première légation la même année. Il a cependant fallu attendre l'année suivante pour que la Conférence des Alliés reconnaisse à l'unanimité des États européens l'indépendance du pays. L'annexion de la Lettonie par l'URSS en 1940 n'a pas été reconnue. Lors de la restauration de l'indépendance, validée par l'Union européenne le 27 août 1991, les relations diplomatiques entre la Lettonie et la France ont été renouées, au niveau ambassade.

Communauté française

Au 31 décembre 2016, 269 Français sont inscrits sur les registres consulaires en Lettonie.

Circonscriptions électorales

Depuis la loi du 22 juillet 2013 réformant la représentation des Français établis hors de France avec la mise en place de conseils consulaires au sein des missions diplomatiques, les ressortissants français d'une circonscription recouvrant l'Estonie, la Finlande, la Lettonie et la Lituanie élisent pour six ans trois conseillers consulaires. Ces derniers ont trois rôles :

ils sont des élus de proximité pour les Français de l'étranger ; ils appartiennent à l'une des quinze circonscriptions qui élisent en leur sein les membres de l'Assemblée des Français de l'étranger ; ils intègrent le collège électoral qui élit les sénateurs représentant les Français établis hors de France. Pour l'élection à l'Assemblée des Français de l'étranger, la Lettonie appartenait jusqu'en 2014 à la circonscription électorale de Stockholm comprenant aussi le Danemark, l'Estonie, la Finlande, l'Islande, la Lituanie, la Norvège et la Suède, et désignant deux sièges. La Lettonie appartient désormais à la circonscription électorale « Europe du Nord » dont le chef-lieu est Londres et qui désigne huit de ses 28 conseillers consulaires pour siéger parmi les 90 membres de l'Assemblée des Français de l'étranger. Pour l'élection des députés des Français de l’étranger, la Lettonie dépend de la 3e circonscription.