Splendid Palace in Riga/Latvia

The postcard was published in 1989. At this time the cinema's name was Rīga. And it was renamed Splendid Palace in September 2011. It opened on 30 December 1923 with the film Under Two Flags (USA, 1922, Tod Browning).

It was the first free-standing building dedicated exclusively to cinema with 824 seats. The cinema project was designed by architect Friedrich Karlis Skujins (1890-1957). The decorations in the Great Hall were made by sculptors Rihards Maurs (1888 - 1966) and Jacob Legzdins (1894 - 1937).
The cinema's founders were Vasily Yemelyanov and Simonis Falstein. Yemaleyanov was also the owner of the cinemas Gloria Palace in Tallinn, Palladium and Forum in Riga
In 1969 the cinema Spartaks was built adjacent to cinema Riga, this is now the small hall.
Splendid Palace is constructed in the Neo-Baroque style with a Neo-Rococo interior. The most impressive part of the cinema is the large hall. Before entering, you will pass through a round lobby decorated with wall and ceiling murals and fitted out with comfortable chairs and sofas from beginning of last century.
At all, the Splendid Palace delighted its visitors with an excellent film program in a great building. And nobody is surprised, that the cinema is now a national architectural monument.