On 12 October at 15:30, the responsible organisations invite interested parties to a meeting to present the results of the assessment of the trees at Lielie kapi, discuss planned work, and hear reasoned proposals to ensure the trees are kept in a suitable condition in the long term.
The meeting is planned at the edge of Lielie kapi, near the monument to Andrejs Pumpurs, with access from Klusā iela (subject to safety conditions relating to the ban on entering the cemetery due to storm damage).
For publicity purposes, the event may be photographed and/or filmed.
The site manager – the municipal agency Rīgas Pieminekļu aģentūra – has ensured an assessment of the ancient trees growing in this historic area. In the specialists' view, some of these trees require maintenance, but potentially dangerous trees have also been identified in the area that should be felled for safety reasons.
The owner of Lielie kapi is the Riga City Municipality, while the area (more than 20 ha) is managed by SIA Rīgas meži and the municipal agency Rīgas pieminekļu aģentūra. SIA Rīgas meži has been managing Lielie kapi since 2017. In accordance with the delegation agreement signed with the municipality, Rīgas meži provides maintenance and cleaning of the territory, including respecting the ancient burials located there, which are unidentified and overgrown with grass.
The fact that the hundred-year-old and older trees in Lielie kapi, which are beloved by the public, need care and that some of them are potentially dangerous or unsafe is confirmed by the consequences of the strong winds from 6-8 October – trees in Lielie kapi were significantly damaged, with some being completely broken, and others having branches broken or snapped off. As a result, for safety reasons, the area has been temporarily closed to visitors since Sunday, 8 October.
About Lielie kapi
The cemetery was established in 1773 and closed in 1969. Several tens of thousands of people are buried there. Artistically significant monuments have also been installed, reflecting the artistic styles characteristic of their time, dating from the second half of the 18th century.
In 1969, it was decided to create a memorial park. In the 1970s, the garden architectural ensemble of Lielie kapi was included in the list of protected monuments. In the mid-1980s, several objects in the cemetery underwent restoration. In the 1990s, several chapels were restored within the cemetery area. There are about 60 species of trees and shrubs growing in Lielie kapi, about 30 of which have been introduced or brought in from other places or regions.