The Nativity of Christ Cathedral

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This beautiful Cathedral was discovered while we’re enjoying the snow along the roadside in Riga, Latvia. I have been searching for the name of this cathedral and found out that the name’s ‘The Nativity of Christ Cathedral’ (Kristus PiedzimÅ¡anas pareizticÄ«go katedrÄ�le), It was designed Nikolai Chagin in a Neo-Byzantine style between 1876 and 1883. Therefore it resembles the Soviet Union era architecture 
Being the largest Orthodox cathedral in the Baltic provinces, it was built during the era of Russian Tsar Alexander II. The Nativity of Christ Cathedral is renowned for its icons, some of which were painted by Vasili Vereshchagin. 
During World War I, it was turned in to a Lutheran church and back into Orthodox again in the year 1921 German troops occupied Riga and turned its largest Russian Orthodox cathedral into a Lutheran church. In independent Latvia the Nativity of Christ Cathedral once again became an Orthodox cathedral in 1921. In the early 1960s Soviet authorities converted its building into a planetarium. And once again it was restored in the year 1991 after gaining independence from the Soviet Union in the year 1991. 
Source: Wikipedia 2013

It has been snowing heavily in the Feb 2012 and the ground was covered with at least 20 cm thick snow. 

Since it was closed on that day, I was only able to capture the stunning external architecture of the Nativity of Christ Cathedral

Footprint of hcvvorld @ Riga, Latvia