For the 800-year jubilee of Riga’s founding, the rooster was chosen as the city’s symbol.
There are roosters everywhere, especially in an old part of Riga. The ancient steeples mentioned in chronicles had rooster weather vanes on top even back in the 1200s. Fires destroyed them frequently, but soon another gailis (Latvian “rooster”) would take their places. One of them is a rooster on a steeple of St. Peter’s church. It’s appeared on the top of St. Peter’s church in 1491. The rooster was made of copper and its surface was covered with gold leaf. It was the highest Europe with the height of 123 meters. With time other roosters replace and old one. Current rooster is the seventh and the largest of all rooster.