Limbaži

Limbaži began as the Livonian settlement of Lemisele in the land of Metsepole. A castle and town later grew here under the bishops of Riga, whose archbishops used it as a residence. Known in German as Lemsal, the walled town joined the Hanseatic League. Ships once sailed up the Svētupe to exchange goods including wax, honey, timber, grain and furs.

By about 1500 the river had become too shallow for seagoing ships, and trade shifted elsewhere. The Livonian War brought repeated destruction: Russian forces burned the town in 1558, Swedish troops in 1567, and Russians again in 1575. Fighting in 1602 ruined its fortifications. Limbaži later recovered, though a great fire in 1747 destroyed it once more and led to a new and enduring town layout.