The history of Daugavgriva Fortress dates back to the early 13th century, when a monastery was founded between the Gulf of Riga and the left tributary of the Bullupe River. In the mid-13th century, fierce battles erupted over the monastery between the church, knights, and townspeople. In the early 14th century, the clergy, unable to continue the war, sold the fortress to the Livonian Order.

Since then, the fortress has changed hands multiple times, as many states sought to seize this strategically important site. Its advantageous geographical location allowed for the control of all vessels heading to Riga, both commercial and military. The fortress was often destroyed and rebuilt, and almost nothing remains of the original monastery. At one point, it was even reconstructed in a different location, though still not far from the original site. This occurred because the sea receded nearly a kilometer due to sand deposits, and the fortress lost its strategic significance. It remains in its new location today.

In the early 17th century, the fortress came under Swedish control, which built powerful fortifications that have survived to this day. In 1709, during the Great Northern War, the Russian army captured the fortress and held it until World War I. Over two centuries, the Russian Empire repeatedly fortified and rebuilt this strategically important site, and by the start of the war, it had become the most powerful defensive structure in the country. The fortress could accommodate around 10,000 soldiers, as well as all necessary weaponry and ammunition. It was impossible to approach it from either the water or land. Ultimately, the command ordered the destruction of the recently modernized fortress.

After 1917, the fortress successively passed to the Estonians, White Guards, and then became a secret military facility of the USSR, next to which a military town was established. Over time, the military facility ceased to exist, and after the collapse of the USSR, commercial companies settled here. Today, the fortress is recognized as a monument of Latvian architecture and is open to tourists, except for the part belonging to the Latvian army.

Currently, the fortress is being restored, but visitors can freely stroll through its ruins and the surrounding area. In the future, tours of the casemates and powder towers are planned, as well as the creation of observation decks and a small museum of the fortress's history.