Swedish Gate

Built in 1698 during the Swedish period, the Swedish Gate is the only one of Riga’s 25 former city gates still visible today. It once served as a controlled passage into the fortified city, where merchants and travellers would pass under the watchful eyes of the guards, but do you happen to feel a sudden chill in the air? A legend tells of a young girl from Riga who fell in love with a Swedish soldier. As relationships between local girls and foreign soldiers were forbidden, they would meet here in secret by the gate. One day, the soldier failed to show up, and the townspeople, having learned of their forbidden relationship, walled the young girl up alive inside the gate. Since then, it’s said that at midnight, those whose love is pure can hear her whisper, “I still love him…” And incidentally… didn’t you cross paths with this ghost just a few metres earlier on your right?