Swedish Gate

This modest archway is the only surviving city gate of Riga's old town, cut through a row of houses beside the last stretch of medieval wall. Dating from the seventeenth century, when Riga was under Swedish rule, it once allowed passage through the fortifications near the barracks. Legends surround the gate, including tales of forbidden love and prisoners once held nearby. Today it frames a quiet cobbled corner popular with photographers, linking the atmospheric back streets of the walled town beside the restored Ramer Tower.