This is an attractive antique view of Riga from across the Duna, showing the skyline of the city with many ships stationed in the river. Seven features of interest are marked, including St. Peter's Cathedral, Riga Castle, and Riga Cathedral. The abundance of ships and denseness of the city give Riga an imposing and important aura.

The map refers to the city as Swedish, indicating that the work was made prior to the conquest of the city by Russian troops in 1710 as part of the Great Northern War. Riga had already repeatedly changed hands prior to this, but had been Swedish since Gustavus Adolphus conquered the region form 1621. Prior to that, the city was Polish, and prior to that it was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The idea of a Latvian identity would take more than two hundred further years after the making of this map to develop in full.