It is not often that a resident of Ida-Virumaa gets to the farthest corners of our Motherland. Especially in winter. Therefore, I offer thanks Russian tourist make a trip to winter Saaremaa.
The island of Saaremaa (German for Ezel), although it is the largest of the Estonian islands, is still cut off from the mainland by a strait. You can get here by plane or ferry. Thanks to this cut off, in the Middle Ages, and now it is the most “Estonian” corner of the country. If in mainland Estonia in the countryside more often they live in farms, then here they live in villages, heirs of old communities. Here is amazing nature - oak forests and fields, with windmills. In addition to everything, in the only city of the island, Kuressaare, there is the most authentic of the Livonian castles.
We were mainly attracted, of course, by the castle. Most of the Livonian castles have not survived at all or have come down to us in a form rebuilt in the 18th-20th centuries. There is also an authentic, laconic, order castle. Almost exactly the same as it was under the knights. It turned out along the way that there was a sea of \u200b\u200bpleasures ahead - a ferry, a wonderfully snow-covered forest, windmills and even a wild fox.
The island was worth stopping there for the night, but we decided to have time to get to Pärnu on the same day, where we would spend the night.
Roads to the island have not yet been built, but you can get there by car all year round get by ferry.
Ferry station near Virtsu village.
On this bank there are modern windmills, on the other - wooden mills.
The ferry runs quite often - once or twice an hour, and does not stop even in winter. It seems that the place is not central, but the ferry is very modern and comfortable.
With a cafe
...and even a children's corner
We were lucky in our own way with the weather - it was fluffy thick snow. Sometimes it was not visible behind him for a hundred meters ahead. It was as if the ferry was taking us not just to the other side, but to some otherworldly land, making its way along a narrow path into a white empty haze.
On the other side, another, somewhat unreal country really awaited.
Before the trip, we heard, of course, that Saaremaa is incredibly beautiful with its nature, but only on the spot we appreciated how true this is. Especially when we turned off the Tallinn highway to the north, to Angla. It was empty, quiet and clean. The air became thick and delicious, as if it could be bitten like cotton candy.
The island was not colonized as intensively by the Germans and Danes as the rest of Estonia, and under the Russians it became a resort, not a center of anything. In Soviet times, industrial giants were not built here. As a result, now up to 98% of the population here are Estonians (the general level for the country is only 69-70%). In the mainland, they live in farms. There are more villages, heirs of archaic communities.
You can often see traditional sheds on a stone basement with a reed roof. And in winter they are picturesquely wrapped in snow.
Before the revolution, almost every two families had a separate mill. Now there are fewer of them, but still, you look sometimes - as if nothing has changed in a hundred years.
Before the arrival of the Danes and Germans, the island was the base of the Eastern Vikings. It is not entirely clear whether the medieval pirates were Estonians or whether they were Scandinavians or Slavs. But the Danes, who in the 13th century aspired to control the waters of the Baltic alone, were greatly hindered by this freemen. In the first third of the 13th century, they managed to conquer the island. The locals remained hostile, and the Danes and the Germans built fortified churches all over the island.
A significant part of these churches were built during the Gothic period.
They say that pagan and Christian motifs are closely intertwined in interior design. A special place belongs to the cult of the star. A meteorite fell here 4,000 years ago. Kaali crater remains, a special attraction - almost perfect round lake.
One of the most famous churches is in the village of Valjala, which was the main settlement of the island before the Danes.
In summer, you can drive along the winding coast, admire the sea, cliffs and beaches. It is said that in summer the locals offer quite a lot of attractions, from traditional farms to crafts. But the most important treasure of this kind is the windmills.
Near the village of Angla (Angla) there are five of them in a row. They say it used to be 9.
Those on the pole - a local design, turn into the wind with the whole body. The one in the center, with a round "head" - Dutch. She only turns the top of her head into the wind.
And a single windmill looks unusual, and five seem to be something completely wonderful.
The same original and the city of Kuressaare. It is neither as German-medieval as Tallinn, nor as classicist as Russian cities. Small, but quite yours. It arose thanks to the castle of the Ezel-Vik (Saare-Läänemaa) bishopric.
It was laid down by the Danes near the ancient port. After the first uprising of the Estonians, which began right here, on Saaremaa, in 1345-1365 the castle was rebuilt in stone. Then, after the uprising, the castle passed into the hands of the Livonian knights and became the center of the bishopric.
However, there is an assumption that the long thin eastern tower, predictably bearing the name of Long Herman, was built much earlier, it is separated from the rest of the castle by a deaf shaft.
Under the Livonians, the castle was built in the form of an almost regular square. From the outside, it is so correct that it seems not so much a castle as the brainchild of a functionalist architect. It's almost an even cube.
But such were indeed the castles of the Livonian chivalry. Protecting the few but merciless European invaders from local barbarians, who for some reason believe that they can own their own land.
What makes this castle magnificent is that it has been minimally rebuilt since Order times.
Castle courtyard:
Now it houses a museum and Cultural Center, thanks to which you can get inside and see the arched vaults of the cellars,
And authentic galleries...
And some interiors
Museum workers could not resist the entertainment. Tourists are happy to tell the legend that during the reconstruction of the castle in the basement they found a walled-up room in which a decayed skeleton sat at the table.
To make it more interesting for tourists, it is reported that the deceased is a Spanish hidalgo, who failed to humble his southern temperament and still violated the strict vow of celibacy with a local beauty.
Kaali meteorite craters
The next point on our tour of the island of Saaremaa was a unique place - we had never seen anything like it before: Lake Kaali, formed 7500 years ago when a meteorite hit the Earth. Upon entering the earth's atmosphere, the meteorite split into 9 parts, and all the craters formed on the earth's surface are located close to each other (in the center of the town of Kaali, a map of their location hangs by the store), but this one is the most impressive: among the trees lies a perfectly round lake with a diameter of 110 meters and a depth of 22 meters (the rest of the craters are from 13 to 39 meters in diameter). We were lucky: I saw photographs in which the lake looks like a puddle of dirty water, but on our arrival the weather, although it was rainy and cloudy, the lake was full of water.
Already in the Stone Age, a settlement of people arose on the shores of the lake; in the Middle Ages, the lake was fenced with a wall in order to preserve it as a source of clean drinking water. Now there are several buildings here: a restaurant, a hotel, a shop and a school, apparently, children come here from the surrounding farms. As our driver Eduard told us, the islands are full of remote places-farms, where you can often see not only the product of the Russian automobile industry of the 70s, but also German tanks adapted for various household needs. And in some places "they don't even know that Soviet power is no more."
It is believed that it was the Kaali meteorite that was the basis for many legends of the Scandinavian epic and the Estonian Kalevala.
Church in Valjala
Not far from Kaali, there is a Romanesque-Gothic church in Valjala dating back to the beginning of the 13th century - the oldest building in Saaremaa. It is somewhat reminiscent of large merchant houses in Tallinn - a pointed roof, high walls. In the masonry of the spire there are fragments of ancient burial grounds.
Angla windmills
On the Estonian islands, until the last century, the custom was to build windmills in groups - near villages, on elevated places. Near the village of Angla, there used to be 9 mills (5 survived), which were erected here one after another, and a new one was immediately built in place of the dilapidated ones. The ones we saw were built at the beginning of the 20th century. In principle, I adhere to the point of view that I saw one mill - I saw everything, but it's worth a look here, because. the design is interesting: a wooden body rests on a massive wooden pole, which can rotate around its axis. The mills are two-story, at the bottom there is a flour receiver and a mechanism for adjusting the millstones; on the second floor there are threshing and traction mechanisms, which are driven by two pairs of mill wings. These are four of the five mills that we saw, but the fifth one is of the Dutch type (1927).
Karja Church of Katariyna
A few kilometers away is the smallest medieval temple in Saaremaa - the Katariyna Church - the smallest medieval temple in Saaremaa, dating back to the 14th century and well preserved. Alas, there is no photo: it started to rain so much that it was not only pointless to shoot, but also dangerous for equipment ...
Saaremaa island and the main attractions of Kuressaare. Bishop's Castle, powder tower and others interesting places cities. How to get to Kuressaare from Tallinn and what to see in this place. My story about a trip to the island of Saaremaa.
I love the North. Places like the island of Saaremaa always have their own inexpressible charm and their own special magic. It manifests itself in the sound of the waves of the cold sea, in a quiet whisper pine forest and in the views of the huge stones that are found here and there along the road. You look at them and imagine that this is a giant troll, frozen under the light of the amber sun. Remember how in the movie "Bridge to Terrabitia"? Our imagination can sometimes work wonders. And it is in such places that fairy tales about elves and giants become a little more real.
Yes, I understand, I'm already 27. But I'm still a teenager at heart, so get ready - this article will be solid vanilla. After all, this is my blog - I write what I want. Well, as for the island of Saaremaa, it is really a very unusual and bewitching place. When I was just applying for an Estonian visa, I got a call from the embassy to clarify my itinerary. I told the center employee that I was going to Tallinn, Tartu and Kuressaare. She listened to me quietly. But only when she heard the name of the main city of the island of Saaremaa, she suddenly perked up.
Are you going to Kuressaare for half a day? she asked in surprise. “But it’s such a wonderful, wonderful place. You look at everything only very briefly. Wish I could go there for at least a couple of days.
And then she repeated these words in other variations two or three more times. I laughed it off and said, they say, give me a longer visa, and I’ll drop in on you sometime. But somehow she didn't really appreciate my humor. Take my word for it: she almost resented the thought that I was only going to Kuressaare for 5 or 6 hours. Then Tanya and I even laughed that, probably, she herself was from the island of Saaremaa. And that is why my travel plan so hurt her feelings towards her small homeland.
Okay… Why am I saying all this? And besides, that embassy worker was right, actually. I was somehow touched by this place from the first chords. Bathed in the rays of the amber sun, the island of Saaremaa seemed to me like a fragment of a parallel universe. I squinted from the sun, shivered from the cold wind, rolled on the ice, thinking that I was about to find myself in waist-deep water ... But in the end, I was very glad that I finally ended up in this place. Let me tell you more about it. Are you ready (the story will be long)? Well then let's go.
What is Saaremaa and Kuressaare (in a nutshell)
Remember the David Duchovny movie Playing God? So now I will have a film "Imagining Wikipedia". In short, in a nutshell, the island of Saaremaa is the largest of the 1521 islands of Estonia (yes, yes, I know, I opened my mouth myself when I found out that Estonia has already one and a half thousand islands). At the same time, only 5 percent of the population of this state lives in the island part. Considering that the country's population is already not very large, the 14,000-strong city of Kuressaare generally looks like a real metropolis by local standards.
In summer, this sleepy one-story town turns into a quiet retirement resort - with numerous spas and a cool sea. As I understand it, this is such a local Druskininkai. Well, or an analogue of the Serbian Palich, where Tanya and I have already been this year.
At the same time, as it was written in one magazine, which I read on the way here, the number of rooms in local hotels is almost a third larger than the population of the city itself. In this regard, there is even a special joke on the island, they say, in the summer, due to the abundance of SPA centers, this island is often called "SPAaremaa". But I was in this place in December. And in winter Kuressaare seemed to be a completely empty and lifeless city. Yes, I know it doesn't sound very good. But at that moment I was even glad about it. From the sight of the empty streets that spread around, the feeling of the unreality of everything that was happening in me only became stronger.
How to get from Tallinn to Kuressaare (Saaremaa island)
Now get ready to be surprised again: despite the size of Estonia, the most popular transport to the island of Saaremaa is airplane. At least, that's how it was written in most guidebooks dedicated to this place. When I was preparing for this trip, I read a lot that Kuressaare has a good modern airport (which, however, even in peak season, rarely receives more than 80 passengers a day). The flight from the "mainland" is carried out on compact and small vessels (at a price of 40 euros for a round-trip ticket). And the journey takes no more than half an hour.
But at this point, I immediately need to make a reservation: I myself did not check this information on myself, and on all the search engines where I tried to find such tickets, they were safely absent. Wikipedia says that only two companies operate flights to this airport - LFH and Avies. But that's all - with your permission, I will leave this moment out of the brackets. And instead, I’d better write how I myself went to this island.
So ... Personally, I got to the island company busesLuxExpress. They run between cities several times a day, so finding the best time is easy. The buses themselves are very good: the cabin has a toilet, a free coffee machine, wi-fi and a personal monitor in each seat (with movies, music and other joys of life). The standard fare is in the region of 9-16 euros (the earlier you buy, the cheaper). However, during promotions and sales, prices are often reduced up to 2 euros.
Another option to get to the island of Saaremaa cheaply is to use company flightsSimpleExpress(come from Tartu).
Their buses are simpler, but the prices are lower (from 1 euro). Therefore, personally, I would advise you to check both options, and then choose the most suitable from the two.
Ferry, dawn and the endless Baltic Sea
You know what is most surprising: my first memories of the island of Saaremaa do not begin with the island itself, but with ferry crossing and a huge ship that absorbed trucks, cars and buses into itself, like a huge sea giant.
The photo was taken from the window of the bus... 
We drove onto the inner deck, and the people who were with me on the bus all quickly began to leave. Yielding to the herd instinct, I also quickly jumped out to the site, and, catching some Russian-speaking peasant (who watched the LifeNews and Russia 24 channels all the way next to me), I asked him where everyone had rushed to. In short, it turned out that there was a buffet on the ship. That is, while the bus is crossing, you can drink coffee, sip soup or chew some kind of bun.
To tell you the truth, I would have chewed something in the morning too. But the Estonian prices didn't leave me much choice. And I decided to just go on deck. I stepped through the door that led to the ship's open prow. And at that moment, any thoughts about food flew out of my head in a matter of moments. Dawn Baltic was magnificent. Leaden clouds stitched with strokes of dawn, an endless sea that covers everything to the very horizon, and high windmills that have frozen somewhere ahead ... I hope the photos will be able to convey at least a part of all this splendor ...
I also photographed the Estonian islands on the other side of the crossing (from the windows of the bus), as if trying to keep a piece of this cold northern beauty with me forever. I filmed the road, forests, stones near road routes, doll houses, frozen in front - but due to the movement, many pictures turned out to be blurry. Therefore, all that remained for me was to place all my hopes on Kuressaare itself. And finally, after some searching, I still found here what I was looking for.
Sights of Kuressaare (Estonians say "Kurrreesaarre")
So... Now about the city itself... Get ready for a little fly in the ointment. I've been crumbling here for three pages in vanilla epithets, but in fact, I did not immediately like Kuressaare. It is generally difficult to fall in love with this city at first sight. You arrive at the station - and there are wooden houses around. I don’t even know how to describe it to you ... My friend Mirek, seeing this, said: “It’s like we have in Sapotskin” (this is such a town near Grodno).
In fact, Kuressaare is such a big village. Village, European, of course. But still a village. Most of the city is represented here by one-story buildings. And don't listen to anyone who starts telling you about "unique examples of Estonian wooden architecture." Village. Dot. That's all.
Therefore, keep in mind that the concept of attractions in Kuressaare has a certain amount of conventionality. Well, look here: there is an old fire station and the building of the local town hall (they are together in the picture) ...
Weird Saint Lawrence Church (located right across from a couple of strip clubs)…
Monument to some Estonian soldier...
And a pretty house of the market "importance" (this is the place where in the old days the goods brought by merchants were weighed - something like a control scale that we once had on Komarovka).
That's all. I even immediately regretted it when I came here.
The city itself is a combination of old wooden streets and modern buildings in the Scandinavian style. In short, the village, as I said. Although the villages in Estonia, of course, do not look like we have in Belarus. In the evenings, I think, here you can not only drink and gnaw seeds on the bench. Of the achievements of civilization in the city, there are two large supermarkets, several good restaurants (including a rather nice "Irish Pub"), some kind of art gallery, a museum and several modern centers for the sale of new cars (the fact of the existence of which in a town of 14,000 surprised me very much). It also made me smile that in many hardware stores, along with standard lawn mowers and mini-tractors, mechanical boats were also sold. You immediately feel that you are on an island. Cool…
As for attractions, there is only one real gem in the city - old Bishop's castle which stands right on the seashore. Next to it there are several more colorful wooden buildings and a restored powder tower. From the side of the city inside the fortress wall leads a long wooden bridge. Inside the citadel there are outbuildings, bulk ramparts, as well as themselves - a tower and a castle.
The uniqueness of the Kuressaare Bishop's Castle lies in its age - or rather, in the fact that it is the only castle in the Baltic countries that has survived to this day in its original form. Inside the castle there is a museum (entry costs 5 euros), which, of course, was safely closed in winter. However, just walking around the walls of the medieval bastion is already incredibly pleasant. Plus, add to this the sea views that open from the ramparts - and you will understand what I'm talking about.
Sea, sunset and a couple of giants
Kuressaare Bishop's Castle is a bright and cool attraction. But in fact, for me personally, the main pearl of the island of Saaremaa is still the sea. Directly opposite the castle is a secluded beach with well-groomed paths and trees, whose branches synchronously stretch straight towards the sea. In December, besides me and my friend Mirek, only a couple of English-speaking tourists walked here. Imagine this picture: a deserted beach, old castle and an amber sunset over by the Baltic Sea… Beauty.
Road along the beach...
Bishop's Castle...
Deserted beach...
Traces of seagulls on the frozen sand...
Sunset over the Baltic Sea
Krumka... Meet. Remember I wrote in my
Now - Saaremaa. Nature, windmills (in addition to the museum ones, there were also real ones), churches that are more than 600 years old, and even meteorite craters. This is all about Saaremaa, in a nutshell.
I will not delve into the history of the island in detail. Let me just say that in the summer of 1941, Soviet air raids on Berlin were carried out from here, and after the war and before the collapse of the Union, the territory was a border zone. Getting to the island was difficult. Now there are ferries to Saaremaa from mainland Estonia and from neighboring island Hiiumaa. I already wrote about the ferry and the way to the island in the winter, after my last visit here.
1. The capital of the island is the city of Kuressaare (in Soviet times, Kingisepp). Quiet town, in the center of an interesting.
and more about him
2. Bishop's castle in Kuressaare. In previous posts about the city, I talked about it
3. It turns out that Estonia is a country of meteorite craters. There are more of them here than anywhere else in the world. The most famous crater - Kaali - reaches 110 meters in width. 3000 years ago, a fragment of a meteorite the size of a 20-story building fell here. Whatever they thought about this crater before. It was considered both the entrance to hell, and the grave of the son of Apollo, and anomalous zone.
By the way, by the standards of craters, Kaali has a child's age: he is the youngest in Europe
4. It's not a crater, but you don't want to leave the forests of Saaremaa
6. Ancient churches are one of the hallmarks of Saaremaa. Lutheran Church of Saint Martin
7. Built in the 13th-14th centuries. One of the oldest in the country!
8. Church of St. Catherine in Kärla, about the same age
9. About the local churches that I liked the most, I will write separately
12. The owner of the island met in one of the churchyards)
13. Orthodox churches is also there. Approximately all of the same age - the middle and the end of the 19th century
14. Handle on the door of one of the Orthodox churches
15. And this is how they live in Saaremaa. No fences, lawn, Swedish Faloon color house
16. On the way we notice an abandoned
17. But it turned out that this is the territory of an Orthodox monastery
18. As soon as we entered the territory, a nun came out to us. She greeted me very politely, gave me a tour of the monastery and treated me to plum juice and cookies. Of course, she didn't ask for money.
Then we talked a little. The nun asked about Russia and was very surprised to learn that in our monasteries, especially in women's, there was nothing to count on such a reception. Unfortunately.
Having bought monastery jam from local flattering berries, herbal tea and donating for hospitality, we go further
23. There are hillforts in Saaremaa. It is located in the town of Kaarma. It is interesting to archaeologists as a place of ancient finds (somehow they found decorations of the 12th-13th centuries and charred logs of fortifications), to local residents - as a place for sledding in winter
24. In summer they ride on an interesting swing that I have already come across in Setomaa
25. From more serious military fortifications, you can see the ruins of the order castle Maasi (Zoneburg). The castle stood at the crossroads of important routes, controlled the strait between the islands of Saaremaa and Muhu. Built by the master of the Livonian Order in the 14th century and named Soneburg (Soneburg), which means "castle in retribution" in German.
Later it was rebuilt and expanded, participated in wars, was captured by the Swedes. In 1576, the Danes, on the orders of the king, blew up the castle, after which it ceased to exist forever as a military facility.
Now partially restored and turned into a recreation area
27. The coast near the castle is decorated with just such a boat. I just don’t know if they brought her on purpose, or if she lives out her life here from the very beginning. For greater aesthetics, there is not enough tree sprouted through the bottom
28. One of the manors (manors) of the island
29. Shop in an old building
30. On the northern coast of Saaremaa there is the Panga cliff, which rises to 21 meters
31. Saaremaa - island of windmills. The most famous are in the town of Angla. At first I thought it was some kind of village where many mills were preserved, but Angla turned out to be a museum
32. Moreover, the museum is small and uninteresting, unless of course you are an expert in windmills. The territory is fenced, but the whole area is perfectly visible due to the small area.
34. And another mill, literally a kilometer from the museum
35. Some windmills are converted into such characters) Ninaze town in the north of the island
36. Be sure to visit Saaremaa!
You can stay in hotels and hostels in Kuressaare and in guest houses throughout the island;
- it is better to come by car, since the island is large (about 88 by 90 km), interesting places are scattered throughout the territory;
- public transport: from major cities Estonian buses run in Kuressaare. Some of them go to settlements with sights, but mostly go along the route from the ferry to Kuressaare, along which there is almost nothing interesting;
- there are also lighthouses (we didn’t get to the most interesting, and after Hiiumaa we already wanted to see something else), natural monuments, a farm museum. In 2008, in the town of Salme, 200 meters from the sea, a Viking ship was discovered, which contained 7 skeletons. The analysis showed that the ship was built between 650-700 years. Two years later, another ship was discovered, in which 33 skeletons were neatly stacked. According to historians, this may be the burial place of the Swedish king Ingvar the High who attacked these lands;
- for a not very detailed inspection of the entire island, you need at least 3 days.
Saaremaa is the most big Island Estonia (its area is 2922 km 2 , the population is about 40,000 people) enjoys a well-deserved reputation as an excellent holiday destination with unique nature and numerous attractions. Saaremaa has retained its originality largely due to its insular position. In ancient villages, to this day, you can see buildings covered with a thatched roof, stone fences. The islanders managed to preserve not only national costumes, but also a peculiar language. The first settlements on Saaremaa appeared 8000 years ago. Islanders who fought for their freedom with the Danes and Germans - participants crusades, were forced to submit to them in 1227. In 1559, the Germans who ruled Saaremaa sold the island to the Danish king. In 1645, Saaremaa passed into the possession of the Swedes for more than half a century. In 1710, during the Northern War, Saaremaa was captured by the troops of Peter I, and the island became part of Tsarist Russia. During the years of World Wars I and II, the island, which had strategic importance became the scene of hostilities.
Thanks to the mild maritime climate and limestone soil, Saaremaa and its neighboring islands are rich in flora and fauna. animal world. Over two hundred species of plants and animals, from the Ezel rattle to the ringed seal, are protected by the state. Rarely found in other places, vine snails, rare butterflies, marvelous orchids - all this can be seen on the island of Saaremaa. Sweet and sour bread, windmills, homemade beer - a kind of hallmark of Saaremaa.
What is interesting:
1. Medieval Kuressaare Castle, preserved, perhaps better than other similar structures in the entire Baltic, was built in the 2nd half of the XIII century. In the center of the castle, built of hewn dolomite blocks, there is a square courtyard, which is surrounded by a covered gallery at the level of the second and third floors. The castle houses an exposition of the Saaremaa Museum, which tells about the history of the island and the city of Kuressaare, as well as about the nature of these places.
2. House-museum of the Aavik family. Since 1960, the musicologist Joosep Aavik (1899-1989), the nephew of the famous Estonian linguist Johannes Aavik, lived in the house on Vallimaa Street. The house has a museum dedicated to the life and work of these people.
3. Kuressaare Town Hall. The baroque building, distinguished by its simple and austere forms, was built in 1670 on the initiative of a major Swedish nobleman, Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie. The original form of the town hall was restored in the 1970s. There is a gallery, a tourist information center and a restaurant in the basement.
4. Perfectly restored Old city built in the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The center of Kuressaare, which has many sights, is one of the most beautiful in Estonia.
5. The city park, founded in 1861 on the site of a wasteland around the Kuressaare castle and the old church garden, spread over more than 17 hectares.
6. Vilsandi National Park is of international importance and the highest category of bird nesting reserve. Its predecessor, founded in 1910, was the first in Eastern Europe nature reserve on the Vaika Islands. Tens of thousands of seabirds stop, feed and nest on Vilsandi and other islands.
7. For the part of Vilsandi national park Harilaid peninsula (area 3.62 km 2, protected since 1924) is characterized by a variety of flora (over 300 species). IN sea waters in summer there are many gray seals, in winter - rare sea birds. The Tagamõisa peninsula has an interesting geological structure and rich vegetation. About 600 species of plants grow in the local alvars, lakes, lowland swamps, meadows and coastal dunes, including rare orchids, yew, ferns (spear-shaped multi-row), etc.
8. Viidumäe Nature Reserve (1873 ha) was founded in 1957 to preserve relic plant species and communities. Here grows such an endemic plant as the Esel rattle, which is found only in Saaremaa, ashy rowan, rare alpine clover and others. The two-kilometer study trail, which starts in the center of the reserve, can be walked under the guidance of a guide.
9. Lihulind settlement, covering an area of 2 hectares, is surrounded by 6-8-meter earthen ramparts. This strongest and best-preserved hill fort in Saaremaa is located away from the villages, in the forest, on sand dunes and surrounded by swamps.
10. Windmills in Angla the most famous in Saaremaa. The village mills were built on the hill. In 1925, when there were 13 farms in Angla, there were nine windmills. Four of the five remaining mills are typical of Saaremaa and were built at the beginning of the 20th century. The fifth (highest) is a Dutch windmill built in 1927.
11. Karja Church of Katariyna- the smallest medieval temple in Saaremaa. Built in the XIV century, the church has been preserved almost in its original form. Worthy of attention are the partially lost decorative wall paintings, magical signs on the ceiling vaults, unique fireplaces in the sacristy and in the choir stalls. Pilgrims who traveled from Scandinavia and Gotland to Estonia stopped in the church.
12. Yugu cliff is the most beautiful on the island of Muhu. It is located on the northwest coast, a little further from the modern coastline. The length of the coastal ledge is about 300m, the height is 12m above sea level.
13. The church on Muhu Island was built in the 13th century. Three volumes of the church - the longitudinal building, the choirs and the completion of the choirs - have an extremely steep roof. The church has no spire.
14. Windmill in Eemu, built on the site of an old mill, since May 17, 1980, it has been opened as a museum. Small windmills, typical of Western Estonia and the islands, are a unique phenomenon in farm architecture. Similar mills were built in Scandinavia and Western Finland.
15. The village of Koguva, the best-preserved village ensemble in Estonia, has about 100 buildings and about two dozen permanent residents. Village streets with stone fences, thatched log huts, wells and centuries-old trees create a unique atmosphere. The buildings in the village of Koguva belong mainly to the years 1880-1930. The oldest building, the barn of Andrusovsky Farm, is located in the center of the village. It was built with a single tool - an axe. The center of the village is Tooma Farm, the home of the famous Estonian writer Juhan Smuul.
16. Pangas Cliff the highest of the coastal ledges of Saaremaa and Muhu. The maximum height of the scarp is 21.3 m, its length is 2.5 km. In the high point Cliff is an ancient altar, where in ancient times sacrifices were made to the sea.
17. The church in Valjala is the oldest building in Saaremaa, dating back to the 1st half of the 13th century. The church was built in Romanesque and Gothic style. Numerous fragments of archaic burial grounds are found in the stonework of the spire. Such ancient burial grounds were found only in Western Estonia.
18. The Koigi bog covers an area of 3980 ha and is the only one of its kind in the northwestern Estonian archipelago. Through the swamp, which is distinguished by a variety of flora and fauna, a hiking trail, the beauties of nature can be admired from three observation towers. The thickness of the peat bog here is 3-4.5 m. Popular rumor says that Lake Koigi, the largest of the surviving relict lakes, was formed in the place where the owners of the Kareda and Koigi estates quarreled.
19. Meteor craters in Kaali in the central part of Saaremaa - a landmark not only in Estonia, but throughout Eurasia. Around the largest crater, 110m in diameter and 16m deep, there are 8 more craters. Kaali meteorite, which fell to Earth about 7500 years ago, the last giant meteorite to fall in a densely populated area.
20. Picturesque Wyatt Peninsula with shallow bays, reed beds, diverse flora inhabited by many species of birds. Many species of orchids are found in the coastal meadows and in the reed beds; flocks of gray geese, geese, and cranes stop here in spring and autumn.
21. The oldest lake in Saaremaa, Karujärv (Bear Lake), was formed about 8,000 years ago. It occupies an area of 330 hectares, its greatest depth is 6 m. There are five islands on the lake. According to an old legend, the lake was called the Bear Lake due to the fact that seven bears clashed here. To separate them, God sent such heavy rain that a lake formed. The bears fled in their own direction, and seven bays formed on the lake.
22. Ruhnu Island (area 11.2 km 2 , population about 60 people) is the most remote Estonian island. It is only 37 km from Cape Kolka on the coast of Latvia, and 70 km from Kuressaare. The first mention of Rukhnu dates back to 1341. The bishop of Courland gave freedom to the local Swedes and allowed them to engage in agriculture. Ruhnu Stave Church, built in 1644, is one of the oldest wooden buildings in Estonia. Ruhnu has one of the deepest boreholes in Estonia. The water rising from a depth of 787.4m has medicinal properties and very salty. Many rare and protected species of plants and animals can be seen on the island.
23. Sõrve peninsula deeply protrudes into the Irbensky Strait. At the southern tip of the peninsula, you can see a lighthouse from 1960, and next to it, the remains of a Russian coastal battery from 1914. A little to the side, in the forest, are the remains of another coastal battery, already Soviet, 1941.
24. Ruins of the order castle in Maasilinna. The ruins are covered with a capital roof and are being restored.
25. Peide Church XIII century. One of the oldest churches in Estonia. A very impressive building.
