The Latvian Orthodox Church is a semi-autonomous Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the
Patriarchate of Moscow.
The head of the church carries the title of Metropolitan of Riga and all Latvia; this position has been occupied since
1990 by Metropolitan Alexander Kudryashov.
In
1836, the vicariate of Riga was established as part of the Pskov diocese of the
Russian Orthodox Church.
In
1850, the vicariate was transformed into the diocese of Riga.
In
1990, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church granted the Riga diocese autonomy, and it was incorporated as
The Latvian Orthodox Church.
