The Corner House, a project by the Occupation Museum, provides the opportunity for the wider public to gain insight into the building that formerly used to serve as KGB, or ‘Cheka’, headquarters in Riga, by preparing an exhibition on the institution’s operation in Latvia and a tour of the building.
Visitors are able to view jail cells, dungeons, strolling areas, the lift for the interrogated and office workspace. It is a revelation for the young generation and foreign tourists as well as a memorial for those who suffered within these walls.
The KGB building, or the Corner House, became the most vivid symbol of the totalitarian regime during five decades of Latvian occupation; it remains a potent reminder of the last century - a time of large-scale wars, mass repression and genocide - and a relict in 21st-century Riga. Now is the right moment to change the fate of the Corner House and open its doors to visitors in order to learn about the lives and the experiences the building's walls witnessed, acknowledging, understanding and reinvigorating them.
KGB building tour
Admission to the Occupation Museum's exhibition is free of charge.
Guided tour of the “Cheka Dungeons”:
Seniors, students and schoolchildren - EUR 5.
Adults - EUR 15.
Why visit
The KGB Building - better known as the Corner House - is one of the most chilling and thought-provoking places to visit in Riga. Once the main centre of Soviet surveillance and repression in Latvia, it now serves as a powerful museum that tells the stories of those who lived, resisted, and suffered during Soviet rule. Visitors can explore exhibitions detailing secret police operations, political arrests, and the atmosphere of fear that once gripped the nation.
Historical highlight
Locals nicknamed the building the Corner House because its only public entrance was tucked into the sharp corner where Brīvības and Stabu streets meet. While this might seem like a small architectural detail, it gained symbolic weight during the Soviet era: those who entered that door often never came out or returned changed forever.
How to get there
The KGB Museum is located at Brīvības iela 61, on one of Riga’s main arteries. It’s an easy 15-minute walk from landmarks like the Freedom Monument or the Central Railway Station. For those using public transport, buses and trolleybuses frequently stop nearby along Brīvības street.