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
It takes place during the Polish-Swedish war in the spring of 1601. After one of the battles on the outskirts of the Turaida Castle, Greif – the scribe – found a little girl who was just a few months old still alive and among the dead. He cared for her and gave her a home. As it was May, the girl was named Maija.
As the years passed, Maija grew into a beautiful young woman – so beautiful that she was called the Rose of Turaida. Her betrothed, the gardener Viktor Heil, lived on the opposite side of the Gauja River at the Sigulda Castle. Their usual meeting place was at the Gūtmanis Cave, next to the Turaida Castle.
Two Polish army deserters, Jakubowski and Skudrītis, were serving at the castle at that time. Jakubowski fell in love with Maija and asked her to marry him, but she rejected the proposal. The rejection angered him, and he decided to take the girl by force.
One evening Jakubowski wrote a note to Maija in Viktor’s name to tempt her to visit their accustomed meeting place, the cave. On arrival, Maija realised that she had been tricked. She was wearing a red silk scarf, and told Jakubowski that it was a magic scarf which protected its wearer from a sword blow. She dared him to test the magic.
Maija decided that it was better to die than to be humiliated. This was an era in which people still believed in magic —Jakubowski struck her neck with all of his strength, and she collapsed. Mortified, Jakubowski ran into the forest and hanged himself.
In the evening, Viktor found Maija at the cave and ran to Turaida for help. The 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 testified to the truth. Viktor was exonerated, and Maija was buried on the Turaida Church Hill. A linden tree was planted on the Rose of Turaida’s grave, and Viktor left the country.