There is a legend that Riga will never be ready, and if it ever is, the city will sink. The legend contains several versions where various supernatural figures emerge from the Daugava River or appear to the citizens and ask if Riga is ready. Whenever the question is asked, the answer is always no, and if it had been answered yes, the figure would have drowned the city. The legend suggests Riga is perpetually developing and expanding, and will never stop growing.

1. Riga will never be ready
Legend

2. There is a legend – Riga will never be ready.
And if one day it is ready then it will sink with all
its citizens.
There are several versions of this legend,
and noone can tell which is the right one. 2

3. Every year a voice from out of the Daugava river asks
if Riga is ready. And the answer is always no. If one
day Riga is ready, the citizens will be swallowed by the
Daugava river.
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4. Around every five years one
magpie landed on the roof of the palace
and asked:
-“Is Riga ready?”
And Catherine always answered:
-“No it isn’t.”
If she had answered that Riga
is ready, then it would have sank down.
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*Note: Catherine is goddess of victory

5. Once upon a time, a man in the black coat got out of
the Daugava river. He stroke the ground three times with
his walking stick and asked if Riga was ready. But it
wasn’t, so the man went back. He is believed to be
appearing every hundred years, but if someday Riga is
ready, the man in the black coat will drown it.
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6. Once upon a time, half-man, half-fish peeped
out of the Daugava river and asked if Riga was
ready. The townspeople answered that it wasn’t.
But if they had said that the town of Riga was
ready, the man would have drowned Riga with
his tail.
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7. Once upon a time, a group of builders were
building a house in Riga. When the house was ready,
a woman in white came up and asked:” Is Riga
ready?”. Builders had said that Riga wasn’t ready and
the white woman disappeard, saying:”I have slept for
one hundred years and will have to sleep for one
hundred years more”. If builders had answered that
Riga was ready, then the woman in white would have
drowned it.
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8. There was a spirit of God living in
the sea near the Riga town,
which was the governor of Riga.
Once a year spirit came out of
the sea and asked:”Is Riga
ready?”. And every time he
asked, the answer was no, that
Riga isn’t ready. But if it had
been ready, the spirit would have
immediately drowned it.
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9. The Dome Cathedral asked St. Martin’s
Church:”Is Riga ready?”. St. Martin’s church
answered that it was not ready yet. If St.
Martin’s church had answered that Riga
was ready, it would have immediately sank.
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10. Riga will never be ready!
Riga is growing day by day and all the time
something new is being created in the city.
I It will never stop and even if it will, Riga
will sink despite the threat of the evil
spirits.
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