Is Riga Completed?

This is the most favourite legend among the people of Riga and expresses the city’s eternal openness to change.…

Old people use to tell that from time to time a person is seen in Riga who is interested in the city’s future. The details differ – he can be both a gentleman in a black evening coat or a pale virgin, a magpie or merely a voice from the Daugava Riga – and there is also no consensus about the timing of the appearances – they can be every year on New Year’s Eve, or only once in five or even one hundred years. However, the question posed by this being to the first person it sees is always the same: “Is Riga completed?” Until now, all those whom it has met – night watchmen, builders or simply passers-by - have replied that it is not yet completed. It is believed that as soon the reply is that the city has been completely built, the city will sink into the waters of the Daugava.
However, the wise people of Riga know the right sort of answer – Riga will never be finished.