Zaķusala is one of several islands in the Daugava river in the central part of the city Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

, the capital of Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

. Zaķusala is home to the Riga Radio and TV Tower

Riga Radio and TV Tower

The Riga Radio and TV Tower in Riga, Latvia is the tallest structure in the Baltic countries and in the European Union. It was built between 1979 and 1986 by USSR. Its highest point reaches 368.5 m , which makes it the third tallest tower in Europe and the 14th tallest tower in the world...

, which was completed in 1986. The tower is the tallest structure in the Baltic states

Baltic states

The term Baltic states refers to the Baltic territories which gained independence from the Russian Empire in the wake of World War I: primarily the contiguous trio of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania ; Finland also fell within the scope of the term after initially gaining independence in the 1920s.The...

. On the northern tip of the island, alongside the railway trestles are remnants of the Iron Bridge

Iron Bridge, Riga

The Iron Bridge was a bridge that crossed the Daugava river in Riga, the capital of Latvia. The bridge was bombarded twice, during World War I and World War II, but was not rebuilt after the last war and only remains of the bride pillars now stands where the bridge used to cross the river....

 that was blown up during the Second World War.

External links

• Engraving from collection of Johann Christoph Brotze
  Johann Christoph Brotze
  Johann Christoph Brotze was a famous German pedagogue and ethnographer.Brotze was born in Görlitz, Electorate of Saxony. He studied theology and philosophy at the universities of Leipzig and Wittenberg, and was also skilled at technical drawing...
  
  , depicting the 1701 battle of Swedish King Carl XII against Saxons before Riga during the Northern War
  Great Northern War
  The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
  
  . The viewer is facing South. Islands in the Daugava are clearly visible. Many of them though have either disappeared or have joined with other islands since then. Modern day Zaķusala is located where there is an island group in the top part of the landscape.