The Baltics - Tallinn & Riga

Swedish Gate - Old Riga

The river trade routes eventually declined in importance, but by then Riga was the established commercial and administrative center for the region.

The descendants of the early German traders dominated the political, commercial and cultural life of Riga well into the 19th century. The local indigenous population of Latvians and Livonians (an ethnic group closely related to Estonians and Finns) were primarily peasant farmers and provided a manual labor force in Riga. They had virtually no political influence.

Following the decline of the Hanseatic League, Sweden ruled Riga and much of what are now the Baltic States for about one hundred years - from the early 1600's to the early 1700's. The region was then incorporated into the Russian Empire as a result of Peter the Great's wars with Sweden and others.

The medieval heart of Riga survives as "Old Riga" ("Vecrīga" in Latvian). Many of its buildings date from the heyday of the Hanseatic League. The photo above shows one of Riga's best known landmarks, the "Swedish Gate." It was built into the city walls in the late 1600's to connect the medieval town with soldiers' barracks just outside the walls and the growing districts beyond. The walls adjacent to the Swedish Gate are all that remain of the city's medieval fortifications.

Several grisly legends are associated with the Swedish Gate. In one tale, the city executioner always put a red rose on a window ledge above the gate the night before an execution. Another story, even more gruesome, tells of a young local woman who was walled up (alive) near the gate because she had fallen in love with a Swedish soldier. Amatores cavendum!