Riga city fortifications
The Riga city fortification ( Latvian Rīgas nocietinājumi ) is the historical city fortification of the Latvian capital Riga .
Design and history
A first massive city wall in Riga was mentioned in a document in 1207. Previously, 3.50 meter high palisades should have existed. In the course of the city's history, the fortifications were repeatedly expanded. In the 14th century it was already 2,200 meters long and reached a height of up to 13 meters. There were up to 29 towers that were about 70 meters apart. The distance was the range of an arrow. Of the towers, only the Ramerturm and the Powder Tower are preserved today. There are also several towers integrated into newer buildings. Originally there were eight city gates in the wall. Of these, only the Sweden Gate has survived to this day.
However, due to the further development of weapon technology, the city wall then lost its military importance. From 1537 new fortress structures such as bastions , ravelins and sand walls were built in front of the city walls . The fortress was in 1710 after a siege of Riga by troops of the Russian Tsar Peter I occupied.
Over time, buildings were added to the old city wall on both sides, so that it disappeared from the street scene and in some cases only became visible again in the 20th century when buildings were demolished.
The status of a fortress existed for Riga until 1857. After its abolition, the fortress structures were leveled. The city canal and parks were built in their place .
Only smaller parts of the medieval city wall have been preserved. The largest piece is a part of the city wall in the north of Riga's old town, on the south side of Turmstrasse (Latvian Torņa iela) and north of Lärmstrasse (Trokšņu iela).
literature
- Karl Woldemar von Löwis of Menar , Riga , Verlag von Joneck & Poliewsky, Riga 1918, page 14 ff.
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 56 ° 57 ′ 4.9 ″ N , 24 ° 6 ′ 27 ″ E