The story of Gutmanis Cave

This cave is where the legend of the Rose of Turaida begins. In the spring of 1601, the story goes, a castle clerk named Greif found a baby girl among the dead after a battle at Turaida Castle. He named her Maija, and she grew so beautiful that people called her the Rose of Turaida.

In the evenings she met her fiancé Victor, a gardener at Sigulda Castle, right here. When a Polish deserter, Jakubovsky, lured her into a trap, Maija offered him her red silk scarf, claiming it was magic and could not be cut, and urged him to test it with his sword. She chose death over dishonour.

In the 19th century, court records of the murder case, dated August 1620, came to light. Now look at the walls: names, initials and coats of arms, some from the 17th century, left by visitors and by craftsmen paid to carve them. This is the widest and highest cave in the Baltics.