Daugavgrīva Fortress guards the Daugava’s approach to Riga. Its earthworks and bastions grew from a seventeenth-century Swedish redoubt, while later military uses and community stewardship have left further layers on the site.
Guide preview
From the ground, Daugavgrīva Fortress can look like a green embankment with old masonry set into it. Seen as a whole, the defensive earthworks form a much larger pattern. The site on Buļļu Island guarded the Daugava’s approach to Riga, and its history follows the changing course of the river as well as the changing powers that controlled it.
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Quick facts
- Swedish troops established a redoubt at the new river mouth in 1608.
- A major redesign begun in 1682 gave the fortress its late seventeenth-century bastioned form.
- The fortress remained in military use into the late twentieth century.
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