Legend of the 15th-Century Founder of Riga
(Mostly based upon an entry in Riga 2001, a local publication commemorating the city’s 800th anniversary)
In ancient times, before
One night Kristaps awoke to the sound of a child crying on the left bank of the river. He waded over, picked up the mournful babe and began carrying him back across the river to the hut. With each step, Kristaps found that the child became heavier until by midstream only with the greatest of effort could Kristaps made it to shore. [Explanation: The babe was really the Christ Child in disguise but he was bearing the weight of the sins of the world.]
With his last ounce of strength, Kristaps laid the child on the rug in front of the hearth in his hut and dropped off into an exhausted slumber. In the morning Kristaps awoke to discover that the child had disappeared, leaving behind a coffer filled with gold. Kristaps was a humble man and from this treasure, he spent not a centime (in Latvian coinage, santims is 1/100th of a lats) until his dying day. Then he gave all the money to build
Kristaps = St. Christopher
In church legends, St. Kristofor (Kristaps/Christopher) was a giant from
The common folk of
Today the statue of Kristaps is kept in the the corner from the Dome cathedral). In recent years a replicate in a glass case has been placed near the river on 11 Novembra Krastmala. Lielais Kristaps also appears on the reverse side of the 10-lati coin (worth approximately $5).
Kristaps Still Favored by Latvians
The National Film Board of Latvia calls its biannual awards (its "Oscars" to be present again in autumn 2007) Lielais Kristaps. Kristaps remains a popular name for boys, who celebrate their name day on December 18 each year. (There will be more about the name-day practice in
Don’t be surprised if you see in various places during our stay in
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home