There are exotic things in Estonia!
There are exotic things in Estonia!
Yes exactly! Despite the rather skeptical attitude towards Estonia, there is something to see here ......by the way, there are islands in Estonia, of which about 30 of them are inhabited ...
we present a small overview of the islands ....
A small island 7 km from the coast. Less than 5 km long and slightly less than a mile wide at its widest point. In good weather from the mainland an hour on a motorboat.
Once upon a time, the Swedes lived on the island. One and a half hundred people. They fished, grazed cattle for their needs and were famous as master boatmen. The islanders have always been famous for this craft. Oddly enough, master boatmen also lived on islands where there was no forest, as on Osmussaare. On the islands they always lived together and did not keep dogs and did not lock the doors. The smallest islands had their own schools, and the islanders were reputed to be more educated and literate than many of their fellow tribesmen on the mainland.
At the beginning of World War II, part of the inhabitants moved to about. Vormsi, part of the "shaved" in the Red Army. Under the Germans, many returned to their homes, but not for long. The Red Army carried out the order of Peter I - "threatened" the Swedes, and they left the native Swedish islands and moved to their historical homeland - to Sweden. The island was occupied by the military.
The ruins of a Swedish church built in 1765 remind us of Swedish rule. The remains of coastal artillery batteries remind us of Soviet power. Batteries on about. Osmussaar are well preserved, and most importantly, the flooded rooms were drained and thus opened access. There are rumors about underground, or rather underwater passages leading to about. Wormsi and beyond. Legends of underground passages are the main feature of Estonian legends.
But all these stories are nothing compared to the Main Legend. Osmussaar is not just an island in the sea.
According to the Scandinavian sagas, the island itself is the tomb of the supreme Scandinavian god Odin.
The Swedish name for the island is Odensholm, Odin's island. It is believed that Odin himself raised part of the land from the sea. There really is a grave of some hermit on the island. The island is located in such a way that on the one hand it is washed by the waters of the Gulf of Finland, and on the other - by the waters of the Baltic itself.
Contrary to popular belief about the destruction of the graves of Soviet soldiers in Estonia, the grave of the soldiers of the 314th battery, who held the defense of the island during 6 weeks during the Second World War, is kept in order on the island.
Now only one Swede lives on Osmussaare. He is for both the lighthouse keeper and Odin the peace keeper. Whilst away the time he breeds sheep of the Icelandic breed.
On the islands on which parts of the Soviet army (mainly border guards) were stationed, the pristine nature has been preserved, because.
It was possible to get to the islands only with special permission. So it is rightly said that there is no evil without good.
Recently, the island has attracted scuba divers. Surrounding the island are the remains of stranded ships sticking out of the water. The locations of the German cruiser Mangdeburg and the Dutch merchant ship are known. There are traditional tales about him about countless treasures in his holds.
In 1976, an unprecedented phenomenon for the Baltic occurred on the island or in its immediate vicinity - an earthquake. Pretty strong: 5-6 points. Someone believes that it was an underwater nuclear explosion produced by the military. A crater with almost sheer walls, going to a depth of 60-80 meters, a place of pilgrimage for divers. In fact, the crater was formed long before the “shake”. This depression is on the old Soviet sea maps. The version about the fall of a meteorite seems to be the most probable.
On the nearby Hiiumaa is a real meteorite crater. There are also craters in the southeast of Estonia. The location of the dents from space fragments is quite consistent with an event of this magnitude.
Around the same time as the church, the first lighthouse was built on the island. The one that points the way today was built in 1954. But like all lighthouses, it is interesting.
Island goal. A tourist who decides to stay, or is forced to stay due to bad weather, will have to be content with a tent and food cooked on a fire (if there is firewood). With firewood, too, tension. The island is always extreme. What makes him valuable.
One of the few, and in northern Estonia the only island with which there is a regular connection all year round. There is a mail boat going to Prangli. Converted from a fishing schooner into a cargo-passenger vessel.
Islands adjacent to Prangli are always considered in conjunction with him.
On the way to Prangli we pass by the islet of Eksi
There is no correspondence between letter and sound in Russian. ” Often write "e". Sometimes they write "Aksi", it's easier to pronounce it for non-locals. In Russian, Prangli is Big Wrangel, Eksi is Small Wrangel. The islands have nothing to do with either the admiral-explorer of Siberia, or the White Guard general - the enemy of the Soviet government. Big Wrangel - firstly, it is not in Russian in terms of language. Secondly, there is Wrangel Island (explorer) in the Arctic Ocean, between the Chukchi and East Siberian seas.
The Swedes themselves are confused in the names. Oak Island; ), Sharp Island (Eggs; ), Egg Island (Ä ggsö ), Hook Island (Hak) are all one and the same island of Eksi. What it looks like in your opinion, decide for yourself by looking at the map. That's what the island does not have, so it's oaks. And in general, the vegetation is not good. A little more than on Osmussaare, but still not enough. There is no electricity either.
Exi, like Keri, can only be reached by agreement with local fishermen. It is better not to try to land on the shore by yourself: there are many pitfalls. On both islands, as well as on all the islands of the Gulf of Finland, there were frontier outposts. Service on the islands, uninhabited since the war, torn off from the authorities, was a soldier's sinecure.
Officially, the island of Axi is uninhabited, although there is a completely modern building on it. There are also traces of life. They try to breed Scottish sheep here. So the island is again "mined" in some places.
The island was inhabited from 1790 to 1953. The islanders were famous not only as the best boat builders (their fishing boats, especially motor boats, were highly valued by coastal residents even in the 20th century), but also as excellent furniture makers. We have to repeat ourselves - in the absence of source material on the island itself.
From the Swedish settlement there was a cellar made of boulders.
Small pebbles on the shore attract attention with their unusual brilliance. Take a closer look.
The Swedes built a navigation sign made of stones on the island. And in 1986, the military built a modern concrete lighthouse, which at first worked on ...atomic energy. Now the lighthouse fire lights the sun, or rather, the current generated by the solar battery.
As a barker, they sometimes write about a certain city of Jerusalem. There is no city of Jerusalem, of course, on the island. This is how the people called the labyrinth of small stones, built in 1849 by a builder from Finland, David Weckmann. In combination, he was also a teacher of local children. Next to the labyrinth you can see the numbers 1849 and the initials of the labyrinth builder DW.
The diameter of the Weckmann labyrinth is 10 m. There is also a Small Labyrinth, built by three shepherds in the manner of a teacher's in 1913, in the northern part of the island. Similar labyrinths are typical for Scandinavia, but Estonian labyrinths have their own differences.
On a former Swedish farm, you can find shelter from the weather and cook in more civilized conditions than, say, on Osmussaare. Lunch on the background of the sea will be remembered for a long time. The northern part of the island is a bird's estate. You can watch them from a distance, but don't worry.
about. Keri is shown only on large-scale nautical charts.
It is located an hour from about. Prangli on a good boat. The island is uninhabited, but a wanderer who accidentally finds himself on it (why not dream up), say, a navigator thrown ashore by a storm, will be incredibly surprised. He will find here both a table and a shelter.
From the border guards there was a barracks in the center of the island. It has, as expected, the Lenin Room and a small library, a kitchen and several living rooms with beds. The house is strong. In a storm, the waves roll almost to the threshold: the width of the island is only 145 m.
Scary, but not really.
The waves break on the pitfalls, and behind the walls of the barracks you feel safe. According to ancient tradition, there are small food supplies on the island. Enough for the time during which a bottle with a note for help will swim to the nearest shore. The house even has a toilet. There is also a bathhouse, but, as always, there is no firewood. You have to take it with you. Like gas bottles. The Keri Society maintains the building and brings in the nc. This is one of the smallest of the islands.
The length of the island is less than half a kilometer. In the northern part there is a helipad and a gas well. From 1906 to 1912 the lighthouse was lit by local gas. The gas field has not dried up. Just solar panels do not require the constant presence of a person. The lighthouse retired in 1953.
The lighthouse on the island is historical. Designed by Charles Cameron. Yes, the one who built a gallery of his own name in Tsarskoye Selo. The layout of the Kokshera lighthouse was approved by Alexander I himself.
The historical countdown to the Keris lighthouse has been going on since 1718. Then Peter I ordered to restore the navigation sign destroyed during the Northern War. The very first lighthouse was built on Keri in 1623. The Dutch navigator Julius Blaeuw wrote in his ship's log “in the middle of the bare shallows there is a sea sign”. Later, the sign was called the beacon. A fire was lit at the end of this buoy.
At a small distance from the island, an islet is visible, which seems to be a continuation of about. Carey. This is the continuation of the island, which declared its geographical “independence” and is gradually turning into an independent island.
There are difficulties in translating Koksher (Koksk&; r) from Swedish. Everything is clear with “sher”: skä r is Swedish for “reef”, “underwater rock”. With “kok” it is more difficult. Of course, this is not a chef in the galley. Most likely this is a “kog”, a Viking warship. In the XVIII century the name was written “K; rimaa” (Roaring earth).
It looks like the “roaring forties” ...Storms are common here. So when going to Keri, you need to be prepared for a longer stay.
Finnair erected on the island a monument to the passengers of the Finnish Junkers-52 aircraft shot down by Soviet pilots on June 14.1940. On board the Kaleva aircraft, two businessmen from Germany (the Germans were still friends), two French diplomatic couriers and one Swede flew from Tallinn to Helsinki , American and Estonian. Two bombers, a pike submarine (Shch-301) and a torpedo bomber were sent against this group of people. And all for the sake of diplomatic bags.
On Keri, the smallest island, the extreme is the maximum. The island is signed. The letters are, of course, Latin: K. E. R. I.
Prangli or, as we already know, Big Wrangel, is one of the most populated among the small Estonian islands. About a hundred people live here permanently.
On weekends, the mail boat doubles the sentient population by delivering tourists. The boat brings not only mail, but also products and everything you need.
A Soviet border tower and a mobile communications antenna could have made up the island's coat of arms. They symbolize the connection of times.
The inhabitants of the island are grateful to the border guards to a certain extent. The closeness of the territory made it possible to preserve not only nature, but also a peculiar way of life. The peculiarities of the life of the islanders must always be remembered. The islanders are somewhat naive compared to the inhabitants of the capital, but they do not give a descent when they unceremoniously interfere in their measured life. For example, when they bring a movie that they do not like. Filmmakers have to return to the city almost by swimming.
Almost a museum village street with buildings of the past, and even the century before last, has been preserved. Near the school building there is a plow almost from Swedish times.
The forest roads are strewn with pine cones, and the cars still have Soviet numbers. Or even without them. The border guards inherited a boiler house and a power plant.
The sea breeze and the healing air of the pine forest attract tourists. But not only. There are two attractions on the island. Memorial to the steamship "Eestirand" and the Church of St. Lawrence (1848). The first settlers, the Swedes, rest on the churchyard. The Swedes sailed here for the first time in the XIII-XIV centuries. Then the island was called Vrang
The water near the southern shore, from which the Lasnamä e region is visible, is clear and the bottom can be seen to a depth of 4-5 meters. Around the island there are two shoals with funny names: Devil's shoal and Orange. Local fishermen explain these names as follows: one ship was carrying oranges, ran aground and ...oranges floated on the sea. Devils are harder...
From the harbor to the "capital" of the island - the village of Idaotsa (Idaotsa) is less than a kilometer.
This is the center of the universe: a store, an information and nutrition center, a school, a people's house. The advent of civilization reduces the value of a natural corner. The island bristled with signs. The more civilization, the less buzz from island solitude.
On Prangli, pebbles are like pebbles ...Although Eksi is only 2-3 km away from Prangli, the part of Prangli closest to Eksi is covered with pine forests, and the western side is covered with juniper thickets.
Eastirand. That was the name of the ship, on which the retreating Soviet troops were taken out in a hurry. VT-532 - under this code name this steamer was listed in the Navy - was raided by German aircraft off about. Carey. On board the ship were three and a half thousand recruited to the Red Army on the territory of Estonia, and 40 top arrested Estonian officers.
The captain took the ship out of the shelling and dragged it to shallow water off the eastern coast of Prangli. 2762 people descended on the island.
Forty-four of the Eestirand dead are buried at Prangli. Until 1946, the hull of the ship "Eestirand" still towered above the water.
Almost all of the northern islands, from Mohni to Prangli, have been found to contain natural gas. Gas was found at Prangli in 1924, and the reserves were thoroughly studied in the 1940s from 1958 to 1962. The conclusion was made as follows: the gas is of good quality, high in calories, but it is dangerous to give such a trump card as one's own gas into the hands of the republic. The shutter was closed, but badly. For almost half a century, gas has been escaping through leaks into space.
More recently, according to island traditions, the door of the church was locked with a stone. Whether it was half a century ago, so - he pushed the stone away and entered ...Now is not the time. To the island "constipation" now we also need a mechanical one.
Church of St. Lawrence was built in 1848. The spire is visible from afar and serves as a guide for the captains of coastal ships. On the graveyard there are ancient iron crosses, under which lie the first Swede settlers.
Forged crosses are embedded in granite. They have been walled in for a long time and there are no traces of “glue”, that is, cement, to be seen.
Church of St. Lawrence is the westernmost building on the island. Saint Lawrence is considered the patron saint of all who are somehow connected with fire: firefighters, miners, bakers and cooks, glassblowers, for some reason, schoolboys, boys and students, as well as soldiers, the poor and librarians. The librarian was on the island even before the construction of the church. The church was built by sailors who miraculously escaped during a storm. And it happened on St. Lawrence.
There are about 30 islets and islets scattered around Prangli. The island has its own lake and swamp, so there are places to go and things to do.
Naissaar Island.
Preliterally - "Women's Island". But not the “island of women”. It was all about a single woman who miraculously escaped on an island that had risen from under the water. The island of Nargö (Swedish name) can be officially entered.
On a cruise ship that is in progress only in summer. It is believed that the island was already inhabited in the 9th-10th centuries. , but for the last two centuries it has been used as a military foothold.
It would seem that the Crimean War went far from Tallinn. But the British, French and Russians fought for the island. The graves of the sailors of four states are still preserved. There is a monument to residents who left their homes under the onslaught of military power.
In 1940.400 people lived on the island and there were two schools. On this unremarkable island, Bernadre Schmidt, an astronomer and inventor, was born. The Schmidt camera is the name of the telescopic system, with the help of which it became possible to obtain photographs of meteorites and satellites without distortion. In the name of the native Fr. Naissaar is named minor planet #1743.
Maybe, looking at the starry sky over the island, you will think of something brilliant.
You will be in Germany, at the Tautenburg observatory, go to look at the invention of an Estonian islander.
Of all the islets along the northern coast of Fr. Naissaar is the most forested. The forest was needed for military purposes and the Danish king Eric Menved forbade cutting it. Most of the wooden floors in the houses of medieval Tallinn are made of Naissaare timber.
More than a dozen coastal artillery batteries have been preserved on the island.
Or rather, ruins. They began to build them on the eve of the First World War, and the “artillerymen” left the island after gaining independence. Fans of military history will find curious documents from Swedish times to the present day in an unusual museum in the premises of the former headquarters. There was also a factory on the island where mines were collected. The narrow gauge railway with a total length of 34 km (22 km before the arrival of the Red Army and 12 km during the Soviet era) is partially operational.
You can make a short trip around the island in a heating wagon. Scattered shells of mines are visible throughout the island. From them, craftsmen assemble furniture and other cool things.
The first lighthouse was built on the island by order of Admiral Samuel Greig in 1788. But only the concrete lighthouse rebuilt after the war and restored in 1999 has survived to this day.
Naissaar is not an island for a day. Recently, a Tourist Center was created on the island, a restaurant was opened. You can spend the night in tents, or you can find a place under the roof. The Swedish Church is being restored.
Today, the famous musician and conductor Tõ nu Kaljuste lives on the island. He organizes regular music festivals, which is why the island began to be called the “music island”. The Arab geographer and traveler al-Idrisi called it "Amazonia". There is enough fresh air and “ammunition” on the island (the store is open); Amazons should be taken with you and come off.
And all this is 25 km from Tallinn.
The second largest island in Estonia. It was in turn owned by both the knights of the Order and the bishops. Sometimes at the same time, but in parts. It is believed that until the beginning of the XIII century the island was uninhabited. Then the inhabitants of Fr. Gotland. Medieval architecture about. Hiiumaa is a clear proof of this. The island was called in Swedish Dago (Dagö ).
The church in Pü halepa (Pü halepa kirik) is the first place of interest on the way from the ferry crossing. The pulpit is a unique work of art. It is not made of wood, as usual, but was carved from dolomite by the stone cutter Joachim Winter in 1636. The Pyhalepa pulpit is the only one in Estonia.
In 1563, Hiiumaa completely passes into the possession of Sweden. The warlord Ponrus de la Gardie becomes the ruler of the island. The de la Gardie family owned three-quarters of the island. Groß hof was built by Countess von Stenbock, granddaughter of Axel de la Gardie.
In Suursadam there is an interesting building from the time of Sternberg. In 1638, there was already a harbor in this place, and in 1680, a shipyard. At this shipyard in 1848 the barque “Khioma” was built, rounding Cape Horn.
In Palukula (Paluk; la) there is a Kä rdla meteorite crater. The Estonian islands from Saaremaa to Osmussaar bear traces of a meteorite (or meteorite) fall. Maybe all the traces from outer space are connected with one “stone” that shattered into pieces, who knows ...The crater and its environs were studied by St. Petersburg professor G. Helmersen.
The pillboxes in Tahkuna are reminiscent of war. Nearby is a monument to the Baltic sailors - the defenders of Hiimuaa. There is also a piece. the road along which the shells were brought up. In local museums in one showcase - a Komsol ticket, a certificate of a shock worker and a German Ausweis. Outside of Tallinn, no one pretends that there was no life under the Soviets, or that in German times there were only “forest brothers” who fought against the Bolsheviks.
Outside the capital, history remains history.
Stalin's deportation did not become know-how for the islanders. The first deportation of the inhabitants of Estonia took place in ...1781. By decree of Catherine II, 1200 Hiiumaa Swedes were resettled on the Dnieper.
It is interesting to visit the Mihkel Farm Museum (Mihkli Talumuuseum). The museum gives an insight into the life of the people of Hiiumaa.
The church in Reigi (Reigi kirik) and its pastor are described in the story of the Finnish writer A. Kallas “Shepherd from Reigi”. In Swedish times, there was a Swedish church here. Then Estonian. The current one was built at the direction of O. R. L. von Ungren-Sternberg in 1800-1802 in memory of his son.
Kõ pu lighthouse is considered the first lighthouse in the Baltic.
In 1480, on the advice of the Tallinn City Council, a warning sign was placed at the tip of the Kõ pu peninsula.
For almost five centuries, the 37-meter tower has been standing, towering over the forest, over the island, over the Baltic. The lighthouse stands on Tower Hill, which rises 63 m above the sea, so that the “fire” itself burns at a height of 102.8 m.
The light of the lighthouse is visible for 35 miles. 118 steps lead to the observation deck.
In Kä ina (Kä ina) the ruins of the Kä ina church. It had an organ built by the composer's father R. Tobias. The museum of the composer R. Tobias is only 2 km from Kä in.
There is also a house on the island where the Finnish writer A. Kallas wrote her stories. The Finnish writer knew a lot about Estonia. And about the mutinous river near Pylva, and about the brothers who drowned their sister in the lake for her love for the uneven, and about the shepherd from the islet, and about the Hiiu Unrgu, and about the monks from Emajõ gi, who exposed the papal spy - she told about everything in her stories . Twenty-seven short stories and stories were included in the "Favorites". As they say, "but that's not all. " And a Finn told the Estonians about the white ship in Lasnamä e…
In Vaemla (Vaemla), the academician of painting Johann Kö hler painted ten paintings. The local coachman played the “role” of Christ in Kö hler’s paintings “Blessing Christ” and “Come to me all”.
The blessing man-Christ can be seen in the Kaarli church in Tallinn.
In the harbor of Syru there is a small local history and maritime museum. An excellent collection of ship models made by Captain Tiit Jõ gi. Outside the window of the museum is the harbor; you can see the masts of real sailboats. Including historical ones.
The sailboat “Alar” is being restored. It was built by Alar in 1939 here in Hiiumaa. The Hiyumas have a secret dream of repairing the Alar and preserving it for posterity. Today it is the only surviving original Estonian sailboat. And one of the three wooden ones in the world.
In 1628, the first glass factory in Estonia was founded in Hiiumaa. Yes, Mali has something else interesting on the island. You won't be bored.
