Went on a tour of the old town, seems like any open spaces in the old town were caused by
1-) Kārlis Augusts Vilhelms Ulmanis, who was a "dictator" who wanted to leave an impression

or

2-) WW2 bombing, 'cos the Germans wanted to leave an impression.

Another lovely town with a lot of history.

On the weekends the bucks parties are in full swing, they have "beer bikes" where 10 or so drunks pedal a "bike" while drinking (someone else steers and another person gives them more energy via beer).