Rīdziņa

It is believed that the name Riga originated from the river on the banks of which it was settled. In various sources this river is called by different names: the River Riga, Rīdzene or the Ridziņa. No precise information is available about the origin of the river’s name. However the name, which has been preserved in that of Riga, has outlived its original source since unfortunately this river no longer exists.

In the course of time, the riverbed gradually narrowed because the citizens of Riga were accustomed to dumping various waste, debris and even manure into the Ridziņa. Neither prohibitions issued repeatedly by the Town Council, nor the frequent cleaning of the riverbed alleviated the situation. The river started to dry up especially rapidly in the XVII century, when during construction of fortifications its upper reaches were surrounded by an embankment, transforming the Ridziņa into a reservoir of stagnant water. The riverbed was quickly filled up in the area between the Gunpowder Tower and Audēju Street, but this process was slower downstream near the present 13. Janvāra Street where a boat dock and the city’s winter harbour were situated. At the end of 1860, when the embankments were removed by establishing an underground canal, the remainder of the Ridziņa was liquidated. This underground canal was connected with the old riverbed, leading standing water into the Daugava. Wreckage of ships was found during archaeological excavations, testifying to the initial size of the river and the usage of it for navigation. The river’s mouth where it joins the Daugava was 30-40 m wide, and it was navigable at least to the present Zirgu Street.
Currently, we can follow the direction of the Ridzina’s riverbed by ancient plans of Riga and the location and direction of the city’s streets.

The river was formed near the Gunpowder Tower, then it gently wound and twisted through the entire city, connecting with the Daugava near the Mārstaļu Tower.

Walking from the Gunpowder Tower one could manoeuvre as if along one street through the whole old town and end up at the other end of the city near the Daugava. At the present time, this continuous route is formed by three streets arranged one after another. The first of them is Meistaru Street, which after crossing Kaļķu Street continues as Kalēju Street. At its end, beyond Daugavas Street, Minsterejas Street leads to the Daugava embankment. The buildings on the right side of these streets, with their single-sloping roofs, are like swallow’s nests stuck to the Medieval walls, having been a city fortification in ancient times built along the very bank of the Ridzina river at the beginning of the 13th century. Riharda Vāgnera Street, Vaļņu Street and 13. Janvāra Street enclose the line on the opposite bank of the Ridziņa. The narrow Rīdzenes Street, situated between Kalēju and Vaļņu Streets, today passes over a narrow drain, which was established atop the filled riverbed and remained up to the 19th century.

Today the Ridziņa riverbed is marked in Livonia Square by a pattern of stone blocks.