The largest cave in the Baltics, a sacred place and a healer
Gutmanis Cave (Gūtmaņala) is one of the most remarkable natural and cultural-historical sites in Latvia, located in Sigulda within the Gauja National Park. It is the largest cave in the Baltics and one of the oldest tourist attractions in the country: 18.8 metres deep, 12 metres wide and up to 10 metres high.
The cave was formed over roughly 10,000 years by water erosion, but its present shape developed over the last 2,000 years. The first written records of Gutmanis Cave appear in German sources as early as 1774, and the first article in Latvian was published in 1869.
The name comes from the German "gut Mann" (good man), the legendary healer who, according to the tale, lived in the cave and healed visitors with the water of its spring. The spring, which still flows from the cave, was once considered sacred: as late as the early 19th century people secretly brought offerings to the gods here.
