Igene church is one of the few wooden churches in Latvia. It was built in 1757. The shape of the dimension, layout and proportions of the church are archaic bearing evidence of preservation of ancient traditions of wooden craft. The church was and financed by the owner of Igene Manor Alexander von den Brincken. The one-nave log building is planked with horizontally painted boards, there is a polygonal apse, sacristy and a square bell tower with a polygonal roof peak brought forward from the building.
There are several valuable items in the church: the altar (1752) and pulpit, which were not very successfully painted in 1932. During the restoration, when the top layer of the black colouring was cleaned, paintings were uncovered, which indicate that the pulpit and the altar are older than the church itself. The fitting of the door lock (18th century) and the wind-cock on the tower (1757) are peculiar.
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House of the Blackheads (Melngalvju nams) is a building situated in the old town of Riga. The original building was erected during the first third of the 14th century for the Brotherhood of Blackheads, a guild for unmarried German merchants in Riga. Major works were done in the years 1580 and 1886, adding most of the ornaments.
The structure was bombed to a ruin by the Germans June 28, 1941 and the remains demolished by the Soviets in 1948. The current reconstruction was erected from 1995 to 1999. Today the House of Blackheads serves as a museum and sometimes concert hall.