In 1574 Gotthard Kettler, the duke of Courland and Semigalia, ordered a new masonry house of worship to be built, and it is considered that it was designed by Dutch building master Joris Joriszn Frese. The church was consecrated on the 25th of May in 1615. In 1686-1688 the tower came as an addition to the church, and its architect was Martin Knoch. In 1862, under the supervision of the architect Emil Strauss, the tower had its height increased and together with the gilded cross, it measured 80.5 meters high. In July of 1944, during the air strike, the most of Jelgava was destroyed, including The Holy Trinity Church. Since then, only the Bell Tower was left and now after the reconstruction in 2010 it is open to visitors.

In Jelgava Holy Trinity Church are located exhibitions on the third, fourth and fifth floors. They are designed as a contemporary interior installation, where the exhibits are complemented by the latest technologies integrated in multimedia. The conceptual motto of the exhibitions is ‘Dual Reality’, which gives visitors the opportunity to view the history of Jelgava interactively, discovering information gradually, and to explore historical facts through different senses – with both visual and sound effects, and the opportunity to virtually try on ancient jewellery and historical wedding clothes.

On the 9th floor of the Tower it is possible to visit an exhibition of paintings and the sightseeing platform with a glass floor from which you will be able to enjoy the panorama of Jelgava city. The sightseeing platform is 37 meters high. A conference room and Jelgava Tourism Information Centre is also located here.

More about the offer of the tower of Jelgava St. Trinity Church read here.

Working hours

Prices

Guide services:

• Latvian 15.00 EUR/h
• Foreign language (Russian, English) 20.00 EUR/h

Free Entrance: 

• Pre-school age children - Adult supervision;
• First degree disabled persons and accompanying person - ID;
• Second and third degree disabled persons - ID;
• Jelgava municipality educational institutions school children - Every Tuesday (guide services not included);
• Group accompanying person - If more than 20 persons in group;
• Jelgava Artists' Association members;
• Media representatives - presenting the press card;