Riga City Funeral Service
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The short answer: Riga has one columbarium — at the II Forest Cemetery, built in 2017, with 288 niches that can hold up to four urns each. It has no free places left; the last one was taken about two years ago. The municipality plans a new columbarium at the I Forest Cemetery, with at least 500 niches; 36,300 euros have been allocated for the design, and a construction tender will follow once the project is drawn up. So a family choosing cremation this year has to decide on a place for the urn among the other options.
A specialist of Riga City Funeral Service will explain what can be done today and how the urn is kept while the decision is being made. Advice around the clock: +371 2208 4540
| Option | What to know |
|---|---|
| Adding to a family plot | the most common route: an urn is buried shallower, which partly closed cemeteries also allow |
| A new plot for the urn | at the open cemeteries — Bolderāja and Jaunciems; the plot is agreed with the administrator |
| A niche in the columbarium | the existing columbarium has no free niches; the new one is still being designed |
| Scattering of ashes | cemeteries are to provide separate areas for this; Riga is developing them at several cemeteries |
| Keeping the urn | until the decision is made the urn can be collected and kept — see urn collection and storage |
How an urn burial works in practice and how it differs from a coffin burial we covered in our news on urn burial.
Riga sees around 7,000 burials a year, and cremation is currently chosen in about 15 % of cases. At the same time space for traditional burials is shrinking: the cemetery concept for 2026–2035 allows that capacity may run out in 2033–2036 and forecasts cremation rising to 65 % by 2035. In that plan, columbaria and areas for scattering ashes are the main way of gaining space without extending the cemeteries. More on the shortage of plots is in our news on new grave plots.
Two things in practice. First, the place for the urn is better discussed straight away, together with cremation, rather than left for later: where a family plot exists, adding the urn to it is usually both simpler and cheaper. Second, the urn does not have to be buried immediately — it can be collected and kept while the family talks it over.
Costs differ by option — a new plot, an addition to an existing grave, or a niche; the structure is on the pricing page, and we fix the exact figure before the work begins.
Riga City Funeral Service handles both the cremation and what follows it:
Call +371 2208 4540 — we will explain the options and what has to be arranged.
Arrange cremation and urn burial
