Bastion Hill

Brief information

Bastion Hill appeared where the Sand Bastion of Riga's fortifications once stood. After the fortress ramparts were demolished in the mid-19th century, the defensive site was turned into a decorative artificial hill by the city canal. So this is not a natural elevation and not just a green corner: the very shape of the hill recalls that the edge of the Old Town here was once a line of defense.

Its location is important too. The hill stands opposite the Powder Tower and marks the approach to one of the main entrances into the Old Town from Smilšu Street, along which a trade route to Pskov and Novgorod ran in the Middle Ages. In this small area, the former fortress boundary, the entrance to the old center, and the promenade zone along the canal all converge.

What to notice first

The layout of Bastion Hill is best read through its paths and water. The first design created an ascent that was too straight and steep: it became slippery in winter, washed out in summer, and the canal banks crumbled. A later redesign corrected precisely this problem, so it makes sense to compare the paths running along the canal with the paths leading toward the hill. They show how the walking area had to be adapted to the terrain, not merely decorated.

On the slopes, the cascade with an artificial stream, the small steps, and the retaining walls are important. The cascade added moving water to the hill, the steps made the ascent less abrupt, and the retaining walls appeared only after the war: fragments of destroyed houses were used for them. This detail changes how one sees the tidy landscape: part of its material came from the city's loss.