Candle-lighting ceremony at Riga Castle after dark. November 11, also known as Lāčplēsis Day, marks a turning point in Latvian history when the newly formed national army, with the help of civilian volunteers, won a decisive victory in 1919 over enemy troops driving them from Riga. Traditionally, the event, which honours the nation’s freedom fighters, is commemorated by lighting candles in apartment windows throughout the city and at the Riga Castle wall on 11.novembra krastmala.