St. George's Church stands on Skārņu Street in Riga. It is the oldest stone building in Riga and the first church built in the city. The Order of Livonian Brothers of the Sword built it in the early thirteenth century as the chapel of their Riga castle. It survived a fire in 1215 and was consecrated in 1226 as the Order's military church, after an agreement with Albert, Bishop of Riga.
The nave was widened in the fourteenth century, and a wall was built to separate the church from the town. It was damaged in a riot between the Order and the townspeople in 1297. In 1488 the city council handed it to the Franciscans, who renamed it St. Catherine's Church.
It ceased Christian worship in 1554 and became a warehouse and granary. Since 1989 it has been the Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design.
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