3 Hidden stories about riga
Hey guys! It’s story time.
During our visit to Riga, we took part in a walking tour with a local and we were not expecting the amount of interesting facts we would learn about this rather small but fascinating city.
Riga is full of history, charisma, romance and unknown stories to most of its tourists. Don’t worry, we will share with you our 3 favourite hidden facts about Riga!
If you would like to hang out with a local and find these and many other fascinating stories during our visit to Latvia, you can book a tour like ours using GetYourGuide (by booking your experience through this link, you are also helping us, so THANK YOUUUU!).
The Pavement
Throughout the city of Riga you will be able to see this kind of old but charismatic pavement. Even more charismatic is how this pavement was put together: every merchant who wanted to sell goods in the city market needed to donate two stones or they would have to pay a fee. The stones were collected during the day and then used to build these paid streets!
We think it was quite empowering to discover these streets and to understand that it was actually everyone's contribution to the city.
The swedish gate
The city of Riga was surrounded by City walls but unfortunately the Swedish gate is the only gate Still Standing.
Its purpose was once to give access to the barracks located right outside the city walls. History says that one day one soldier fell in love with a young civilian and they used to meet right by the gate. They were obviously caught - as any other forbidden romance - and the girl was trapped inside one of its walls!! Rumour has it that if you want to know if you found true love, you both should go through the gate at midnight and if you hear a feminine voice saying “I still love him” that's the one!!
Obviously we didn't do this because we were too afraid, but feel free to do it and to share the outcome with us!
The Freedom Monument
The Freedom Monument which, as the name suggests, intends to pay tribute to the country's Independence and freedom, resembles a woman holding three stars.
Latvia's Independence declared in 1921 fell under Russian control again in 1940 which lasted until 1991 - yesterday literally! During these times, Russians always thought of destroying this Monument, but it would have caused a lot of public unrest, so it never happened… However, the monument couldn't really go unnoticed by new visitors and tourists, hence tour guides would always be instructed to “distract” them by making sure they wouldn’t notice the monument. For them to achieve this, Russians instructed tour guides to tell people to look at the opera house, which is located on the opposite side, and in the worst case scenario if they were not successful doing that, they would say that the woman holding the three stars was Mother Russia holding the three Baltic countries (Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia) which is quite a good idea but ridiculous anyway…
We hope you liked it and should you wish to discover these and many more interesting facts about Riga, we highly advise you to book a walking tour with a local!
This was the tour we booked and it didn’t disappoint! You can click on the image below to find this and many more experiences to explore Riga!
don’t forget your travel insurance
You’re probably thinking “I don’t need a travel insurance. Latvia is quite safe”. As much as the last part of that statement is true, accidents happen when we least expect and there is nothing more terrifying than getting hurt abroad, where we don’t always understand the health system neither the language. Also, there is this misconception that a travel insurance is really expensive, which couldn’t be far from the truth!
If you are looking for travel insurance for your trip to Latvia, we would recommend IATI , which is the company we use when travelling. As our reader you will get 5% off your travel insurance!
Always remember: Better Safe Than Sorry!
