Places of interest Estonia

TALLINN CITY

The unique value of Tallinn's Old Town lies first and foremost in the well-preserved completeness of its medieval milieu and structure, which has been lost in most of the capitals of northern Europe. Since 1997, the Old Town of Tallinn has been on UNESCO's World Heritage list.

Tallinn is Estonia's medieval capital. It has kilometres of winding cobblestone streets, red roofs, watchtowers in the Old City walls that surround the Old Town, a whole storybook of medieval houses. Tallinn is one of the oldest cities of Northern Europe. This rich medieval town was forgotten for 50 years in the Soviet times and now, more than ever, Tallinn is attracting tourists to discover the spirit of old medieval times.
The beautiful Old Town includes most of the city's highlights the Old Town with its unique historical buildings surrounded by a medieval town wall with 66 towers, Toompea Castle fortifications, the Dome Church (13th century), the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Alexander Nevskij (19th century), Town Hall Square (15th century), the Old Guild, St.Olaf's Church, the Song Festival Ground for 20 000 choir singers, ruins of the Convent of St. Bridget, Olympic Yachting Centre, etc.

OPEN AIR MUSEUM ROCCA AL MARE

The Estonian Open Air Museum (founded in 1957) is situated at an 8 km distance from the centre of Tallinn on a wooded coastal headland in a beautiful place called Rocca al Mare. The ethnographic open-air museum provides examples of rural architecture from the 18th to the early 20th century. 68 farmhouses from West-, North- and South-Estonia as well as from the islands, together with public buildings, are exposed on a 84 ha territory. The village inn has become an all-the-year-round national eating-place, offering traditional food, as sauerkraut, pea or bean soup, barley cake and "kama" (national dish of sour milk mixed with different kind of meal). During weekends the museum often hosts folk-dance and folk music performances. On the premises of the museum tourists can also buy Estonian handicrafts.

KADRIORG PALACE

The Kadriorg Palace and park covers a big territory (over 100 hectares) near the sea in the northern part of Tallinn. It was founded by the Russian tsar Peter I. According to the designs of the architect Niccolo Michetti, invited from Rome, the palace was built after the Italian villas, consisting of a main building and of two annexes.

The well-preserved main hall is one of the best examples of Baroque architecture not only in Estonia but also in the whole Northern Europe. Besides Russian and Italian artists, masters from Stockholm, Riga and Tallinn took part in its building work. The two-storied hall is decorated with rich stucco work and ceiling paintings.
Kadriorg Palace museum's collection contains over more than 900 Western European and Russian paintings from 16th to 20th centuries, about 3,500 prints, over 3,000 sculptures and gems, and about 1,600 decorative arts objects (historic furniture, porcelain, glass etc.).
After you can walk in the beautiful Flower Garden behind the palace which has been renovated after 18th-century examples.

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TARTU

Tartu (185km from Tallinn) is a historic and a young city, Estonia's second-largest town and the capital of beautiful South Estonia, a landscape of almost untouched nature, rounded hills and small lakes. This charming old University City is cozily small, yet big enough to offer a lot to a traveler - the glory of once well-known Hansa-town, the ancient Dome Hill, academic atmosphere with oldest in Baltic countries University (1632) buildings and merry student festivals, a rich cultural life of concerts, theatre and exhibitions.

LAHEMAA NATIONAL PARK

literally translates to "Land of Bays," and Estonia's largest national park is a mix of coastal bluffs, dense forest, 18th-century manor houses and numerous lakes, rivers and waterfalls. Waterfalls cascade down some of the 184-foot cliffs along the northern edge of the limestone plateau known as the Glint, which bisects the park from east to west. The two main areas open to visitors are the Koljaku-Oandu Reserve, an area of wet sea forest in the northeastern part of the park, and the Laukasoo Reserve, home to a 7,000 year-old bog in the park's center. Lynx and bear roam the forests.The restored manor house at Palmse, near the eastern edge of the park, is Lahemaa's centerpiece. The 18th-century Baroque house, open to the public, is filled with period furniture, and you can tour the landscaped grounds. The house doubles as the park's visitors center.The town of Palmse has a restored 17th-century distillery, hotel and granary. The town is the setting for the Viru Säru folk music and dance festival, held in the first week of July during even-numbered years. Sagadi manor with parks, greenhouses, stables etc. has been furnitured and decorated in the style of 1820s. Fishermen's villages there are more than 500 years old. Altja is a fishermens' village, where a traditional Estonian peasant's lunch can be enjoyed at the tavern. Võsu is a quiet seaside resort and in Käsmu facts about the Estonian seafaring history can be learnt.The park is a one-hour bus ride from the Estonian capital of Tallinn.

PÄRNU

Estonian's summer capital (126km from Tallinn) has been a beloved resort town already for more than 100 years. Ivory-coloured beaches, shady parks, airy avenues and old medieval houses could tell stories about the previous proud member of the Hansa league. Today's Pärnu is Estonia's chic summer capital and offers a great number of various summer activities on the ground, and of course, on the water. Pärnu is also famous for it's curative mud and mineral water cures, that keep sanatoriums and health centers busy year-round.

HAAPSALU

It is a resort town (100km from Tallinn) on the West-Coast of Estonia is well known for centuries for its warm seawater, curative mud and peaceful atmosphere. Narrow streets with early 20th century wooden houses bring you to the sea again and again. Haapsalu has been called the Nordic Venice for this plenitude of water. Nowadays, Haapsalu is most known for its curative mud, but the history of Haapsalu dates back to 1279, when it was chartered and became the centre of Saare-Lääne Bishopric for the next 300 years. We suggest you to visit the famous symbols of Haapsalu: the magic White Lady (a figure of a lady appears on the window of the chapel of Haapsalu Dome Church but you cannot see her in the daylight), The Episcopal castle with the biggest single-nave cathedral in the Baltic states, the Kurhouse (built on the promenade in 1898), Estonian Railway Museum which was famous for the longest covered platform in Europe and the abandoned Soviet military airfield.

SAAREMAA ISLAND

Saaremaa - the biggest island of Estonia is known as a good recreation place with unique nature and a lot of sights. Saaremaa has retained its uniqueness due to its location and insulation. In the villages there are still stone fences and houses with thatched roofs, beautiful national costumes and dialectal language are still used. Junipers, dolomite, windmills and the famous local home-brewed beer are considered the symbols of Saaremaa.

Among the numerous sights of Saaremaa, several are worth calling special attention to, e.g. Angla windmill hill, Mustjala cliff, bell tower built in the 17th century at Kihelkonna, manor house at Loona, ruins of Maasi castle of order, and Mihkli Farm Museum at Viki. The medieval churches of Saaremaa have remarkable archaic architecture, e.g. churches of Poide and Karja. The oldest of them - the church of Valjala - was built in the 13th century.

KURESSAARE

Kuressaare is a small, officially declared town in 1563 by Duke Magnus, brother of the Danish king Frederik II. The town is located in Saaremaa Island, 216 km from Tallinn. The most important tourist sight in the only town of the county is the bishopric castle dating from the 13th century. This castle is unique in the Baltic countries that has survived throughout the centuries in its entirety. Then we offer you to have relaxing walking in the old town with its baroque and classicistic buildings from the 18th-19th cent. which is one of the greatest assets of Kuressaare.

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