The University of Latvia, founded in 1919, has been the national, leading and most influential higher education institution in Latvia for a century. In terms of the total number of students, the University of Latvia is also the largest university in the country – 15,250 local students and 888 foreign students. Today it is a place where the brightest academic minds, innovative research and exciting studies meet. It is the largest wide-profile university in Latvia, which has an important place not only in the development of the entire education system, but also in the overall growth of the country's economy.

The UL is developing rapidly - in the coming years one of the most modern student and research centres in Northern Europe will be established in Torņakalns - the Academic Centre of the University of Latvia. In 2015, the House of Nature opened its doors. The House of Science was opened in 2019. Studies and research in natural sciences and medicine are based there. In the coming years, the territory of the Academic Centre will develop and the House of Letters will be built for the Faculties of Humanities and Social Sciences and their institutes.

The main building of the UL has a historical designated lock-up or detention room to incarcerate students as a punishment. It is the oldest and the most authentic punishment cell in Baltic States which was actively used from 1869 to 1903. The students have left writings in 6 different languages: Polish, German, Russian, French, Latin, and Latvian. One could get incarcerated for not giving back books to the library on time.

→ Visit the university website.

Also take a look at the video about the city of Riga.