Central Market (Centraltirgus) 
Centraltirgus. 

When construction was completed in 1930, Riga's Central Market was one of the largest 
and most modern marketplaces on the European continent. The five huge structures, which 
were used as zeppelin hangars during WWI, were brought to Riga at the behest of the 
government and Karlis Ulmanis, a member of the Latvian Farmers Union, graduate of the 
University of Nebraska's agriculture faculty and, later, benevolent dictator of Latvia. 
Seventy years later, four of the pavilions still serve their original function as meat, 
fish, produce or dairy markets. The bustling atmosphere also hasn't changed much, although 
most of the hawkers are more reluctant to haggle than in the past. The markets spill out 
beyond the confines of the hangars and operate throughout the day, some longer than others.