Lohkva - Kabina - Luunja - Kavastu - Emajõe Wetlands

25 km

We leave Tartu driving along the Räpina road. We follow the route which takes us to the eastern part of the county of Tartumaa, the left bank of the primeval valley of the Emajõgi river, the community of Luunja.

The first stop is near the village of Lohkva. One of the best panoramic views of Tartu can be enjoyed here. Lohkva was first mentioned in the chronicles of Henricus in 1220 (Lovecotte).

The garden-town Ihaste and Kabina are situated between Lohkva and the river Emajõgi. Kabina is a former aristocratic estate (Cabbina) located on the high bank of the valley. Its park and pine forests have already attracted holiday-makers for more than a hundred years. On 2 June 1870 the first all-Estonia singing festival of children with 20,000 participants was held here. Kabina became famous because of its shipyard. In 1846 the steamer "Juliane Clementine" (length - 19.6 m, width - 4.9 m, speed - 10 knots, 150 passengers) was built and launched. A year later regular shipping lines connecting Tartu and Narva, also Tartu and Pskov were opened.

Further on, to the right of the road, we can see the manor of Vanamõisa, the predecessor of Luunja. In 1503 when the estate of Luunja was first mentioned in the chronicles as Lunia, it was situated on the place of Vanamõisa. During the Polish rule it was moved over to its present site and later functioned as a centre of the large farm of St. Mary's church in Tartu (Proposthof).

Luunja has belonged to several families. After the Northern War it belonged the field marshal Boriss Deremetyev (1652-1719) who was the commander of the mounted troops in the battle of Narva (1700) and the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in the Baltic countries. Later another distinguished high-ranking officer the field marshal count Burkhard Christoph von Münnich (1863-1767) became its owner. He is also buried at Luunja. In the war between Russia and Turkey (1735-1739) B. C. von Münnich was the commander-in-chief of the Russian forces, in 1740-1741 he was the Prime Minister of Russia. Due to family relationships the estate went over to the Nolckens and belonged to the family until expropriation at the beginning of the 20th century. Baron Georg Nolcken (1789-1853), a distinguished member of the Livonian knighthood, was born at Luunja. He was strongly fighting against the 1840 agrarian reforms which allowed to sell land to the peasants and also establish permanent tenancy. Luunja is well known because of its peculiar architecture of the 18-19th century cattle sheds in southern Estonia. The buildings, forming a rectangular inner yard, are linked with walls and gates. The whole complex is protected by a high granite wall running parallel to the old road. Luunja can boast of a 2.5 ha park in a mixed style with alleys and ponds in it.

Having left Luunja, the Räpina road crosses the Emajõgi river. We move eastward along the northern bank of the primeval valley. At the end of the route the Emajõgi river is to our right. The river is not so winding as earlier, the riverbed is also deeper now (11 m). The road is asphalted only up to Kavastu at the distance of 10 km from Luunja. The village of Kavastu was administratively established only in 1977 when two villages - Mõisaküla and Alevi - were joined. The first mention of the manor of Kavastu dates back to 1544 (Kawast). Several outstanding people from Livonia have been its owners (Stackelberg, Wahl, Middendorf, Mesenkampff, Deremetyev). In 1558 when the manor belonged to Jakob Krabbe, it burnt down but they soon restored it. In 1896 Werner Wulff, a progressively-minded landlord, ordered a new design for the whole complex with a manor, alleys and a park. The construction work was soon completed. The last owners of Kavastu were the Norrings whose estate was expropriated in 1920 and the land was divided between new owners. In September 1944 Kavastu was a battlefield of World War 2. The manor and other outhouses were destroyed in the cannonade. A memorial stone marks the field where Estonians were fighting against Estonians (serving both in the Russian and the German army). A part of the 19th century park (2 ha) with a 2 km-long alley of lime trees has survived.

In June 1899 a ferry was opened for river crossing to make access to the Põlva area more convenient for the local flax and milk producers. In 1983 the transporting chain broke down and the ferry disappeared down the river. In 1999 the original driving - wheel was raised from the bottom of the river and today it fulfils it earlier function. It is a unique experience to cross the river here.

Three kilometres down the river there is a battle place of the times of the Northern War at the beginning of which the Swedish fleet stationed at Tartu was actively fighting with Russians on the Pskov, Vasknarva and Narva line looting the eastern shores of Lake Peipus. War with Russians had been waged on the Emajõgi river even earlier. One of the first encounters took place in 1234 when the troops of the Bishop of Tartu crossed swords with Russians from Novgorod who were headed by their prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. It was a raid of revenge. In 1233 German feudal lords had looted Novgorod. The bishop's forces were beaten and Germans had to request an uneasy truce.

Near the village of Alevi we can find the ruins of the Kantsi inn built of granite. We can also see the traces of an ancient fortress. Most probably on the place of the inn there was a defence forepost built by the Bishop Bernhard II in the year 1279. Similar to the Vana-Kastre forepost, it had to stop the enemy's fleet from unexpected raids to Tartu. The 17th century map shows that there was a fortress surrounded by a moat. The fortress of Kastre repeatedly changed hands. During the Russian-Livonian War it fell into the hands of Russians, after the Livonian War it belonged to the Poles, later to Swedes and Russians. During the Northern War the fortress still had some military importance, but when Tartu fell, it finally lost its significance. In 1704 the fortress was destroyed by Russians.

Lower down the river, at the village of Alevi, we can feel ourselves as if being in a new landscape zone. The slopes of the valley become lower, the valley broadens and in front of us stretches the Peipus lowland which is called the Emajõgi Soomaa Wetlands. The tributaries of the Emajõgi river cross it. The river banks are covered with thick reed. The surface of the lowland is flat and only a metre higher than the surface of Lake Peipus. This is why the area is flooded each year. There are only a few islands in the marsh covered with some trees and underbrush. The lowland is a former bottom of the lake which became marshy 7,000 years ago when the land to the north of Lake Peipus began to rise and the water flew to the south flooding more and more areas of the dry land. In the lower places peat appeared. As a result of these long-term processes, the area at the mouth of the Emajõgi river is a very specific marshland in Estonia.

The marshland at the mouth of the Emajõgi river extends to 20,300 ha being the fifth in size in Estonia. We should bear in mind that in the county of Tartumaa there are 1,500 marshes with the total area of 79,400 ha thus constituting almost a quarter of the whole territory of the county. Marshes are of different age and this is why they also look different. Most of the territory is covered by low bogs (61%), only 8% by marshes. In some places the layer of peat formed during several thousand years is more than 6 m thick. Most of the marshes (18,425 ha) belong to the natural reserve of the Emajõgi Soomaa Wetlands. The state reserve was established in 1981, from the year 1994 it is called the Landscape reserve of the Emajõgi Soomaa Wetlands. With the decree of the Government of the Republic of Estonia the Emajõgi Soomaa Wetlands were granted the status of an international wetland (Ramsar) and entered into a specialized register. The aim of the reserve is to protect, research and preserve the delta area of marshes, the endangered and rare species and their biological association. The smaller lakes and the cranberry habitat are also safeguarded. Thanks to the rich coastal vegetation, these lakes are habitats of many birds. We can see eagles (white-tailed eagle, osprey, golden eagle, spotted eagle, ducks, laughing gulls, reed thrushes, etc.). The lakes in the marsh, reeds and club-rushes offer sheltered resting places for thousands of migratory birds.

The Emajõgi Soomaa Wetlands will soon be accessible to nature lovers - special routes are being prepared: Kastre - Kikassaare - Jõmmsoo - Ahunapalu - Soitsejärv - Leego järv - Meerapalu. Canoe and boat trips up the Akali river to Kalli and Leego lakes make you feel full of high spirits.