The Turaida church hill
The church hill is at one of the highest locations in Turaida, approximately 300 m to the North of the stone castle.
An old cemetery is around the Turaida church, and archaeological digging between 1969 and 1971 led to the discovery that it was first used in the 13th century. By order of Russian Empress Catherine the Great in 1772, burials near churches were halted.
The grave mounds on the church hill are all gone, except for a memorial to Maija Greif, the so-called Rose of Turaida, which was installed under a linden tree that is more than 100 years old. The legend of the Rose of Turaida is based on documents published by Magnus von Wolfeld in 1848 about the murder of Maija Greif in the Gūtmanis cave on August 6, 1620.
The legend of Maija, the Rose of Turaida
Swedish forces overran the Turaida Castle in the spring of 1601. After the battle, the records-keeper, Greif, found that a little girl who was just a few months old among the dead. He brought the girl home and decided to raise her. It was in May, and the girl was named Maija.
As the years passed, Maija became a beautiful young woman – so beautiful that she was known as the Rose of Turaida. Her betrothed, a gardener called Viktor Heil, lived on the opposite side of the Gauja River at the Sigulda Castle. The two young people met each other at Gūtmanis cave in the evening.
There were two Polish deserters serving at the castle at that time, Jakubovskis and Skudrītis. Jakubovskis loved Maija and wanted to marry her, but she rejected him. Jakubovskis was angry and decided to get his girl by force.
One evening Jakubovskis wrote a note to Maija in Viktor’s name to tempt her to visit the accustomed meeting place at the cave. When she got there, she knew immediately that she had been tricked. The girl was wearing a red silk scarf and told Jakubovskis that it was a magic scarf which protected its wearer against blows by a sword.
She asked the man to test the magic. This was an era in which people believed in magic. Jakubovskis struck Maija with all of his strength, and she collapsed. Maija decided that it was better to die than to be humiliated. Terrified, Jakubovskis ran into the forest and hanged himself.
In the evening, Heil found Maija at the cave and ran to Turaida for help. A gardener’s axe was found near the cave, and a judge decided that Viktor Heil was the murderer. The trial was held at the Turaida Castle, but Skudrītis came to the trial and told the truth. Viktor was exonerated, and Maija was buried on the church hill of Turaida.