Freedom Monument

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    near cnr of Brīvības iela & Raiņa bulvāris, Old Town
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Over the canal from Līvu Laukums you'll find the Freedom Monument. During the Soviet years the Freedom Monument was off-limits, and placing flowers at its base was a crime for which people were deported to Siberia.

Topped by a bronze female Liberty holding up three stars facing west, representing three regions of Latvia - Kurzeme, Vidzeme and Latgale - it bears the inscription Tēvzemei un Brīvībai (For Fatherland and Freedom).

During the Soviet years the Freedom Monument was off-limits, and a statue of Lenin, facing the other way down Brīvības iela, was placed two blocks east. Lenin was removed on the night of 20 August 1991, after the collapse of the Moscow coup attempt.

The independence movement started here on 14 June 1987, when 5000 people rallied illegally to commemorate the victims of Stalin's deportations.