Affectionately known as 鈥楳ilda鈥, 搁墨驳补鈥檚 Freedom Monument towers above the city between Old and Central 搁墨驳补. Paid for by public donations, the monument was designed by K膩rlis Z膩le and erected in 1935 where a statue of Russian ruler Peter the Great once stood.
At the base of the monument there is an inscription that reads 鈥楾膿vzemei un Br墨v墨bai鈥 (For Fatherland and Freedom), accompanied by granite friezes of Latvians singing and fighting for their freedom. Among the figurines, you may recognise that of 尝腻膷辫濒脓蝉颈蝉 鈥 the half-man, half-bear who symbolises Latvians' struggle for independence.
A copper female Liberty tops the soaring monument, holding three gold stars in her hands ('Milda' was once a common girls' name in Latvia, hence the monument's moniker). The three stars represent the three original cultural regions of Latvia: Kurzeme, Vidzeme and Latgale (Latvia鈥檚 fourth cultural region, Zemgale, is dismissed as a part of Kurzeme).
Surprisingly, during the Soviet years the Freedom Monument was never demolished. It helped that one of its authors, Ernests 艩t膩lbergs, designed 搁墨驳补's main Lenin statue, which stood further up Brivibas until it was removed in 1991. However, all through the Soviet period, Milda was strictly off limits to Latvians, and people trying to place flowers at the base were persecuted.
Two soldiers stand guard at the monument throughout the day and perform a modest changing of the guards every hour on the hour from 9am to 6pm.
