I continued through the courtyard and found quite a collection of items that the church had collected over time.

The courtyard is like an outdoor museum.  It was incredible.

One of the first things I saw was this….

When you look up in the hallway of the corridors of the courtyard, you see these seals above the archways.  They are the family seals of the families that financially supported the Church in past construction projects.  Here’s a closer view of one of the seals.

These, I expected to see.  However, I did not expect to see this…

I thought I was looking at something from South America.  It just reminds me of pictures I’ve seen from things in a place like Peru.  But, no worries, it’s not.  Instead of writing out the whole history, I decided to just post a picture of the information.  Click on the image to make it big enough to read.

After that, I came across these beauties:

Look familiar at all?  They should.  They are the door side stones from the House of Blackheads.  They are from 1522.  And yes, they are just sitting out in public.  And in case you were wondering, the two figures in the stones represent St. Mauritius and St. Mary.

And lastly, for your viewing pleasure, I came across this splendid piece:

This nifty little piece was the small coat of arms of Riga that decorated the Bishop’s gate of the fortifications of Riga.  It dates back to 1777.  Incredible.  Again, out in the open for all to see and touch.  Although I refrained myself.  Seeing it was good enough for me.  Although I do have to say that I appreciate the fact that they trust visitors enough to just look at the items without all the ropes and other things that American museums have a tendency to do – but that’s another story.