Noteworthy Places and Buildings Within and near Riga Bishop’s Castle. Part of the original cluster of buildings along the Riva rivulet, the building and the land around it belonged to the bishop of Riga before it was sold to the Domini- can Order in 1234. The former castle is presently the site of an attractive hotel complex called Konventa sēta (Convent Yard). Citadel. A fortress next to Riga that was constructed during the Swedish occupation in the seventeenth century. Destroyed during the Great Northern War (1700–1721), the Cita- del was rebuilt by the Russians, but few of its original buildings remain. Dannenstern House. Named after Ernst Metsu von Dannenstern, a wealthy Dutch mer- chant, this Baroque domicile was completed in 1696 and, although now dilapidated, at the time was one of Riga’s largest and most impressive homes. Dome Cathedral. See St. Mary’s. Dünamünde (Latv. Daugavgrīva). This refers to either of the two fortresses that were, at different times, located near the mouth of the Düna River, just north of Riga. Follow- ing a shift in the river’s course in the sixteenth century, the old fort near the right bank lost its military function and a fortress was built five kilometers to the west at the river’s new mouth. House of Blackheads. Originally called the New House and erected in 1334, the building served as a meeting place for both the Great and Small Guilds, but came to be associated with the unmarried men of the fraternity of Blackheads. They became its sole tenants in 1713, by which time the building had acquired its ornate Baroque façade. The present- day edifice is a replica of the building destroyed in 1941. Jesus Church. This was a wooden church that was located in Lastadia, just south of the old city limits. Kobron. A seventeenth- century Swedish bastion fort located in the Überdüna district across the river from the city of Riga. This site is now occupied by Victory Park. Kube Hill. Also known as the Old Mountain, this was an inhabited sand dune just outside the city walls. Because it loomed over the city fortifications, Kube Hill was razed in 1784 and later became the approximate location of Riga’s Esplanade Park. Lastadia. A shipbuilding area just south of Riga (today it is part of Riga’s Moscow or Latgale suburb) populated by Russian merchants. Powder Tower. Located at the site of the older Sand Tower, which guarded the main en- trance to Riga, the rotund Powder Tower was built in the seventeenth century by the Swedes, who used it for storing gunpowder. Today this well-tended edifice houses the Latvian Museum of War. xiv Noteworthy Places and Buildings Riga River. Known to Germans as the Rigebach or the Rising/Riesing, and to Latvians as the Rīdzene/Rīdziņa, the rivulet gave the medieval city its original shape and its first port. It was at “Lake Riga” that the minor tributary emptied into the Düna River that flowed past Riga to the Baltic Sea. The city’s first permanent structures were erected along the Riga River. Sand Road. Sometimes referred to as the Great Sandy Way, the Sand Road led from Riga to the lands of Russia. Although it has gone by many names, today the Sand Road is known as Brīvības iela (Freedom Street). Sand Tower. See Powder Tower. St. George’s. Refers to the first Order Castle (Ger. Jürgenshof) that was located on the right bank of the Riga River. St. George’s is also the name of the chapel that was built on the site after the castle’s destruction in 1297. St. Gertrude’s Church. Located along the Sand Road in Riga’s suburbs, St. Gertrude’s was a wooden church that belonged to the local Latvian population. The current St. Gertrude’s Church is a completely different edifice. St. Jacob’s Church. One of Riga’s oldest brick churches, St. Jacob’s (also known as the Church of St. James) was a Catholic house of worship that was transferred to the Lutherans dur- ing the Reformation and was attended by Riga’s Latvian community. St. John’s Church. First a Catholic church and then a Lutheran one, St. John’s was built on the site of the Bishop’s Castle next to the Riga rivulet. St. Mary’s Church. Commonly known as the Dome (or Riga Cathedral), St. Mary’s is a large church that belonged to the bishop of Riga and then (after 1255) to the archbishop of Riga. St. Peter’s Church. A large Catholic (and then Protestant) church that belonged to the citi- zens, St. Peter’s is an iconic house of worship in the heart of Riga whose spire, at one time one of Europe’s tallest, has been repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. Town Hall. This was where members of the Riga Town Council (Rath) held their weekly meetings. There were two town hall buildings before Riga’s capitulation to Russia. Little is known of the first; the second was built in 1334 at its present location. The current edifice is a copy of the building that was erected in the eighteenth century and destroyed during World War II. Town Hall Square. The city’s main market and gathering place and originally known as the New Market Square, Town Hall Square in the Middle Ages was far smaller and busier than the broad and touristy square that was rebuilt in the 1990s. Überdüna (Latv. Pārdaugava). Refers to the lightly inhabited district opposite Riga on the left bank of the Düna. In Swedish times, this was the location of Fort Kobron. Outside Riga Courland (Latv. Kurzeme). A sandy, horn-shaped region west of Riga in present-day Lat- via. Also refers to a medieval bishopric. Danzig (Pol. Gdańsk). A leading Baltic trading city whose early history bears much resem- blance to that of Riga, Danzig was taken over by the Teutonic Knights in 1308 and later joined the Hanseatic League. Noteworthy Places and Buildings xv Dorpat (Est. Tartu). Located in present- day Estonia, northeast of Riga, this was the third- largest city in Old Livonia after Riga and Reval and also the seat of a medieval bishopric. Kirchholm (Latv. Salaspils). Located eighteen kilometers south of Riga on the Düna River, Kirchholm was the site of an early fortified church. Kokenhusen (Latv. Koknese). The seat of the archbishop of Riga during the later Middle Ages, its castle was destroyed during the Great Northern War and fell into ruin. Livonia (Ger. Livland). Livonia originally refers to the lands occupied by Livish tribes at the beginning of the conquest. During the Middle Ages, “Old Livonia” came to indicate all the regions belonging to the Livonian Confederation, including Courland and Estonia. Swedish Livland included only southern Estonia and northeastern Latvia. Lübeck. The main headquarters of the Hanseatic League, Lübeck was a German trading hub whose merchants enjoyed close connections with Riga during the Middle Ages. Muscovy. This Russian principality united the neighboring Slavic lands and became the ba- sis for the multinational Russian Empire. The desire of Muscovy’s rulers to have direct commercial links with western Europe brought this sprawling state into direct conflict with Riga and the Livonian Confederation. Narva. Now an Estonian city populated almost entirely by Russians, Narva was once the easternmost outpost of Old Livonia on the Russian border and the site of an imposing castle belonging to the Livonian Order. Novgorod. A trading city of the Kievan Rus’ and its hinterlands during the Middle Ages, the city of Novgorod was a member of the Hanseatic League and supplied Livonian intermediaries with furs and other goods from the forests of northeastern Europe. Polotsk. A significant Russian trading city, which during the Middle Ages enjoyed a land connection to Riga, Polotsk stood near the border of the Livonian Confederation. Reval (Est. Tallinn). Located on the northern coast of Estonia, Reval was the largest Livo- nian city after Riga and a member of the Hanseatic League. Semigallia (Latv. Zemgale). A Latvian region located south of Riga. One of the last pagan regions to submit to the Germans, Semigallia fell into Polish hands during the Livo- nian War. Treiden (Latv. Turaida). A large castle east of Riga and an important center of the archbish- opric of Riga, Treiden was repeatedly taken by the knights of the Livonian Order. Like the castle at Wenden, it has been lovingly restored and is worth a visit. Üxküll (Latv. Ikšķile). The location of a fortified church (now destroyed and submerged) and of Livonia’s first bishopric, established just south of Riga on the Düna River. Wenden (Latv. Cēsis) Located northeast of Riga, Wenden was the seat of the master of the Livonian Order for much of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Partly destroyed dur- ing the Great Northern War and restored in modern times, it was one of Livonia’s most impressive castles and is now among Latvia’s most popular tourist destinations. .