In ancient times the castle of Lemisele considered to be the castle of Metsepole Liivs region and the village stood on the hillock of Ķezberkalniņš. ’’Lemisele” in the Liivs language meant ’’a vast island on a forest wetland’’. At that time foreign tradesmen came up the Svētupe and lake Dūņezers in their sea- vessels.

The formation of the Limbaži town is connected with the building process of the castle for the Rīga Archbishop in the 13th century. In the literature it is possible to find references that in 1223 the bishop built for himself a castle in Limbaži. Thus this year traditionally is considered to be the year of the foundation of the town, yet nothing about it can be found in the Chronicle of Latvian Indriķis. In the 14th century there was a town already there- a member of the great Hanseatic League- and at the same time the economic centre of the whole district. The territory was populated mainly by the Latvians, because the Liivs were already assimilated or forced back to the very sea shore. To Lemisele ( in German –Lemsahl) came ships from Luebeck, Visby and Copenhagen and even from  some other distant places, eager  to get domestic products- honey, bees wax, timber, leather, corn.

In 1385 the Rīga Archbishop Johan IV assigned a piece of land for the further building of the town and he endowed Lemisele with the rights of the town and fortified it with stone walls and moats. At that time on the central market place there was St. Labrencis church, the Guilds Hall (for 3 guilds) and the Town Hall. The number of living houses was about 400, but as to the number of inhabitants Lemisele was the second biggest one after Riga.

Each year on Candlemas the Archbishop of Riga together with his court came to Lemisele and stayed here for 17 weeks, but on Whitsuntide there were ’’the vassals’’ days” when the meetings as well as mutual litigation took place. At that time there were approximately 20 000 people in the town and for the town dwellers it was an opportunity to earn something. Besides that each year there were 3 grand fairs in the town. With the big flow of different people to Lemisele from the West Europe they brought with them diseases, that is why already in 1392 close to the town a leprotic hospice was built, but a hundred years later – a hospital for curing venereal diseases. Nuns from St. Ann women’s nunnery took care of the sick people. There was also a monastery of Franciscan vagabonds.

At the beginning of the 16th century the importance of the town as a trading centre diminished because due to the silting up of the Svētupe and lake Dūņezers it was not possible for the sea vessels to reach the town and thus Riga and Salacgrīva took over the function of exporting the goods manufactured in the district. Besides a lot of different misfortunes overtook the town. In 1558 it was burnt down by the army of Ivan the Severe, in 1567 the same was done by the Swedes and in 1575 – these were the Russians who did it for the second time. After the repeated occupation by Swedes in 1602 they destroyed the town and its fortifications completely which were not rebuilt again. 

According to the accounts of the witnesses at that time a Swedish parson overheard by chance the word „Limba” and „āži” and joining these two words together he fancied it to be the place name and so the present name of the town originated. The Swedish king Gustavs Ādolfs presented the castle Limbaži to the town of Rīga. As Riga was not interested in the development of other towns it forced to the townspeople of Limbaži different regulations which eliminated the growth of Limbaži. Nevertheless the town revived a little. At the end of the 17th century there were already 44 living houses, 2 pubs, a school and a church. Since 1693 the Latvian children were taught at school. 

The Swedish times ended with the beginning of the Northern War, when the Russian troops under the leadership of the count Sheremetev invaded Vidzeme. Having destroyed Alūksne, Cēsis, Rauna they were looking for Limbaži, but due to the thick fog they could not find it and they decided that there did not exist such a town at all, so they informed about that fact Peter the Great, the Russian Tzar.

In 1747 during a couple of hours the fire burned down the whole town, leaving untouched only 4 buildings. Although the town was rebuilt, the further development of it was slow. The historical centre of the town has kept its old street planning which was formed in 1385 after the building of the fortification wall. The biggest part of the present day old part of the town formed in the 18th century and the end of the 19th century.

          More active economic activities started in 1877 when Limbaži according to law was freed from the former subordination of Rīga. In 1876  A.Tīls hat workshop and a wool spinning mill, the oldest enterprise in Limbaži which provided work for many generations of the townspeople, was founded (later it was  „Limbažu filcs”). In 1913 it was reformed into a Belgian joint stock company with the managing director J.Husmans. After the arrival of Baumaņu Kārlis from Peterburgh in 1882, the public life of the town became more active. The Limbaži Cultural Society was formed and the first public library was opened. There were several publishing houses in the town, the biggest of which was the printing house which belonged to K.Paucītis (founded in 1901, functioned till 1953).

 After the years of World War I the economic and cultural life of Limbaži flourished with new energy, nevertheless as before the war it was considered   to be a small provincial town of the Valmiera district, where the main occupations of the people were trade and entrepreneurship.  The development of Limbaži was fostered by the railway line Rīga- Limbaži built in 1934. In 1936 a new hospital was opened (capacity -50), but in 1939 – the Vienības House (Unity House). During World War II, in 1944, when the German troops retreated the railway was destroyed. It was restored only 10 years later.

Fast development of Limbaži started after 1967 when the Limbaži district was formed and intensive building activities began. Up till then the area of street Stacija was occupied mainly by huts, now it was built up with impersonal standardized five-storeyed living blocks. Construction of private residential houses concentrated along the highways towards Rīga and Aloja.  At the beginning of 70-ies the building of private houses began in Kaupiņciems. The main branch of economy became industry, but the biggest industrial enterprises in the town besides ’’Limbaži filcs’’ were a dairy plant, timber industry works and "Lauktehnika" (Agricultural technology plant.)

           At present when the economy of the town adapts itself to open market only the enterprises of woodworking as well as those of processing and producing foodstuffs continue their activities. The number of commercial enterprises is growing.

Limbaži, which due to the traditional fish trade is sometimes called „the capital of the Baltic sprats” is one of the smallest district towns of Latvia. The town is a member of Hanseatic League and every year it participates in the activities of Hanseatic member towns „Hanseatic Days”.

          In Limbaži you can find: 

•  The Culture House (director J.Borīte) with 22 art groups as well as with a study group of traditional Latvian lifestyle „Dzīvesziņas skola”.
  It has already become a tradition during the weekend of the first August week to organize the Festival of the Town and  Lielezers when everybody can find measures according to his age and taste;
•  The Theatre House  with an internationally recognized Auseklis  Limbaži People’s Theatre (director I.Kalniņa), which invites every second year to the international theatre festival those who enjoy acting (the last festival took place in June, 2001g); 
•  The Limbaži Museum (director J.Ulmis), where you are offered an original regular exposition when anyone can walk along the streets of the old town, make himself thoroughly at home with the mood of the previous centuries and have a look into the windows of the buildings of that time. Beside the museum the conservation of the ruins of the castle are being carried out.  See: www.muzeji.lv/guide/pages_l/limbazu.html 
•  The Children’s and Youth Centre (director  A.Šteinberga) with the educational interest and hobby programes ;
•  The Art  school (head S.Lagzdiņa) and the Music  school (head V.Ņikandrovs), their pupils take part in different competitions and return home with prizes;
•  The Central Library (director Dz.Justa) and the Children’s Library (manager G.Beķere)  with their electronic data bases;
•  The Limbaži  Branch of the Agricultural  University of Latvia  (head G.Karpova), that exists only for two years, but 150 students acquire their higher education there;
•  The Centre of Adult education (manager M.Pīlāga) offering classes of foreign languages, entrepreneurship activities, landscape planning, etc. The Centre coordinates the  activities of the advisory committee of the adult education of the Limbaži district ;
•  3 pre-school institutions (Nursery school N#1, head I.Enģele, Nursery school N#2, head S.Padoma, Nursery school N#3.  head G. Arča), 3  secondary schools (Limbaži Secondary school N# 1, head  P.Ķauķe; Limbaži Secondary school N#2, head. G.Karpova, Limbaži Secondary school N#3, head A.Zakulis) and Vocational school N18 (head J.Arums),  where it is possible to acquire the profession of a carpenter ,a bricklayer, a building joiner, a builder, a car mechanic, a shop manager, a traffic warden .
  The Evening Secondary school (head  V.Ābele) widens its field of activities and answering the demands for adult education has started organizing the Self-access centre;
•  The Sports school (head  D.Zaļupe), the sport hall,  BMX  and  moto trace, that  promote the development of sports ;
  Lake Lielezers offers the possibility for active rest – the sandy beach, swimming places, catamarans, volleyball grounds as well as angling;

In the old part of the town a monument to the author of the National Latvian anthem Baumaņu Kārlis is situated.

In Limbaži there is developed commerce, processing and producing of food-staffs, woodworking and craft. In Latvia Limbaži is being identified with bread and milk products as well as with wood processing enterprises.

Little by little the town of Limbaži is being developed as educational, tourism and recreation centre.