Turaida Museum and Its Surroundings

The legend says that there was a beautiful girl in Turaida castle named Maija who loved the Gardener from not too distant Sigulda castle. Every eligible bachelor, including a wicked foreign Soldier, sought for Maija's hand but she loved only the Gardener from Sigulda.

One night in order to trick her the Soldier forged a note from the Gardener asking Maija to come to Gutmana cave. There he planned to rape her and force her to marry him. She arrived expecting a loving embrace and kiss from her beloved Gardener but instead found a deceitful ambush and a trap. The Soldier brought a companion and together trapped Maija helplessly in the cave. When she saw that there was no way out and that the men intended to take from her the only thing she had to give her true love - her purity. She made a clever, yet costly deal with the foreigners.

From her pocket, Maija removed a delicate silk handkerchief saying: "This handkerchief is magical. If your sword can swiftly pass through its silken threads without stopping, you may have me forever." With that statement she sealed her fate and wrapped the handkerchief around her neck. The naive Soldier, thinking he had easily won, withdrew his sword and with a swift stroke passed the blade through the handkerchief and Maija's neck killing her. The Soldier's moment of triumph turned to instant defeat.
Maija's devotion to her truelove is remembered in Latvian legend and folk songs.


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