Our history
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Those who’ve been to Jurmala’s centre and walkedpast Dzintari concert hall must’ve noticed a majesticcastle, a prominent representative of a late art novou.Inside the castle, a cosy restaurant RANDEVU and ahotel with a beatiful name ‘Pegasa Pils’ (that is, ‘Pegasus’sCastle’ in Latvian) found their place.Built in 1900, the building is considered Jurmala’sarchitectural monument. It’s been a recreation centre forJurmala tourists since the beginning of 20th century andbrought its unique style to our days.A land plot of more than 10 000 m2
is located in Jurmala’scentre, at the corner of Turaidas and Juras streets. For along time it was a place where a wealthy crowd visitedfamous Lido restaurant. Back in the days, the place wasowned by Michelson dynastay. But the Soviet governmentsent thier daughter to Siberia; the rest of the family stayedin Riga and was killed during Nazi occupation. Hence,Michelson family experienced terrors of both Stalin andHitler regime. Howerver, their heiress survived in Siberiaand gave birth to a daughter, and the daughter then gavebirth to a son, who inherited that very land on Juras Street60. Up until 1990s, on the land, there was a health resortin the name of Yan Fabricius with baths.On September 19th in 2003, after two years of research,planning and renovation, Pegasa Pils offered its first set ofservices to the guests – restautant, hotel and sauna.Music events happen regularly in the Dzintari concert hallwhich is only 20m away from the hotel, and soft waves ofthe Gulf of Riga rustle some 50m away from the hotel’sentrance. The most famous Jurmala’s pedestrian street,Jomas Street, is also within easy reach, no more than 3minutes walk away.
The Fight for the Style
“In the 80s, it was a two-storey building of the health resortwith a tower. The main condition for renovation was torestore the building and bring it back to its originalappearance since it was an architectural monument,protected by the government,” the project manager andPegasa Pils owner tells. “That’s when the question arose:what does the ‘original appearance’ mean? What was thebuilding really like? I have PhD in technical sciencies, andas stubborn scientists with the last century’s traning do, Istarted to search for the truth! I throughoutly researchedJurmala XIX- ХХ centuries’ art novou architecture andpersuaded the commetees how the renovated buildingmust look like. Funny enough, the existing building wasrenovated twice, in years 1939 and 1960. But everythingthat’s been added rotted, only the original walls,constructed in 1990, remained intact. All the hotel’sarchitectual details you see now – the window apertures,decorative wooden elements, etc. – were renovated thisway not because I wanted them so, but because that’sexactly how the original architect intended them in thebeggining of XX century. We discovered it through ourscientific research. But nothing comes easy – we changed21 architects within these two years!
We argued a lot, but eventually, Jurmala’smunicipality approved the project in a day –increadibly quickly, that’s never happened before!We restored the building’s appearance bit by bit,trying to understand the origianl unknown arcitect’sthought behind the desing. Everything was rational.For instance, now, there is a fireplace in the RANDEVU restaurant. When I first entered the half-ruined building and saw the place, I said, ‘The
fireplace will be here, and a violinist will play there’. Ijust had that vision. And so, we were open onSeptember 19th, I came in on September 22d, andsome violinist was playing by the fireplace! Themusician works for us now.”The owner fondly calls the old castle’s tower ‘Towerof Pisa’ as it’s titled 21 sm inside. When the tilt wasdiscovered, to fix it meant one thing: the tower mustbe dismantled entirely and put together again. Butthe owner decided the masters of the 20th centuryknew what they were doing and our contemporariesshouldn’t intervene with their work – what if theycan’t recover it properly? The tower as it is mostlikely will look as good as new for a hundred moreyears. During the renovation, the whole building waslifted up with jacks, and the base was filled with ameter-thick layer of concrete that even a bomb won’tdestroy.
The Castle’s Emblem
Pegass & Jūra. That was the inital name of therenovated house. But once, at the end of thereconstruction works, an old lady approached theowner. She was so happy Jurmala is beingrenovated and restored. “Finally, Jurmala isbreathing again!” she said. “There was a castle herelong time ago, and you recreated it almost prefectly!”That’s how the ‘Pils’ – catsle – part of the nameappeared.And why is it Pegasus’s Castle? Pegasus bringsinspiration and luck and together with a Muse, theywill take everyone who visits Pegasa Pils under theirwings.Not a castle can do without an emblem. So, one wascreated for the hotel, too. With the building on thebackground, next to the Pegasus, there is a womanon the emblem. This is the Muse whom luck andevery man’s life depends on! Above the maincharacters, there is a crown with four stars on it. Atthe woman’s feet there is her star sign, Aries,whereas Scorpio is meant for the Pegasus. Theshield behind them protects the castle and itsresidents.Wind vane is made as a part of the emblem. Localsnoticed that if on a summer day, the Muse on thewind vane points at the sea, the water will be warmand it’ll be a good day for swimming. While if sheturns away, the water will be cold, and there’s nopoint of coming to the beach.
Our location
We are located in the very heart of Jurmala. The Dzintari Concert Hall, where the most famous artists from all over the world perform, is just 50 metres away. The sea is a 2-minute walk away. Jomas hiela is 4 minutes away for a delicious dinner.
