5. Tartu- Piirissaar island

Laaksaare - Piirissaar - Piiriküla - Tooniküla - Saareküla

By boat from Tartu 65 km
By boat from Laaksaare 10 km

One of the most original and attractive tourist destinations in the County of Tartumaa is the Island of Piirissaar in the middle of the large waterbody, situated at the place where Lake Peipus and Lake Lämmijärv meet. The natural beauty of the island and its image of fishing and onion growing life-style deserves preservation. It is worth a visit, especially if you love history and exceptional landscapes. There are two ways of doing it. Firstly, a boat-trip on a bigger vessel from Tartu takes about one hour and twenty minutes (65 km). Secondly, you take a fishing boat from the harbour of Laaksaare (10 km). In the cold winter, when the lake is covered with a solid thick layer of ice, an ice road is opened. In the north-eastern part of the island there is a natural hay field where small aircraft can land but, however, it is often flooded when the level of water in the lake is high. The harbour of Piirissaar is in the middle of the island and a navigable canal (length - 1.2 km, width - 30 km) connects it with the open shores. The northern shores of the island are not navigable.

The island is not very large with only 7.5 km2 of dry land, a part of which is marshy and reaching only one metre higher than the level of the lake water. There are rather big areas a brushwood - willow, birch and alder prevailing.

In 1991 a nature protection regime was introduced to guarantee the survival of very special flora and fauna associations on the island. The human economic impact decreases year after year because the traditional fields of activity - fishing, onion, carrot, cucumber and radish growing diminish as a result of the constant fall in the number of population. In 1920 there were 700 people inhabiting the island. On 1 January 1999 only 102 had remained to live here. The main income of the local people comes from fishing and onion growing. The decreasing human impact is favourable for the wild life. The conditions for birds' nesting improve each year. In spring one can see almost all the Estonian species of waterfowl here, including mute swans and white-tailed eagles. There are six species of amphibians. Exceptionally many frogs have found their habitat on the island. Many plant species and their associations are also protected.

The life style on the island of Piirissaar is interestingly archaic. The communities of old believers, orthodox and lutheran people live in close neighbourhood to each other. Earlier the island was called Porka (Russian Zhelachek). It is said that the island was first inhabited after the Northern War when a reform of religious life was carried out in Russia and the old believers fled from their homes in the fear of persecution. Also, men who were conscripted for 25 years of military service found refuge here. Piirissaar belonged to the landlord of Kastre. For centuries Piirissaar has been a border island. Before the Northern War, between Swedes and Russians. In the Russian empire it lay on the border of two provinces. Today the border of the Republic of Estonia and Russia runs east of the island.

The people of Piirissaar suffered greatly in February 1944 when battalions of the 128th rifle division occupied the island and prepared for conquering the mainland of Estonia. During two week Germans attacked the trenches of Russians on the island and the opposite shores of Lake Peipus organising 500 air raids. The Russian descent troops were retreating. The local civilian people who could not leave the island were also losing their lives. On the common grave there is a war memorial to all those who perished in World War 2.

At present there are three villages - Piiri, Tooni and Saare. The village of Tooni is the centre of the island. The border guard observation tower (38 m) can be visited if you have obtained prior permission. There are two churches on the island. The church of old believers is in the village of Piiri.

To the south-east of the island, near the Russian shores, where the huge Crow's stone ("Voron" in Russian) had been, the legendary Ice Battle was waged on 5 April 1242. The Russian troops under the command of Alexander Nevski, the Prince of Novgorod, gained the victory defeating German knights.

The Ice Battle is very well described in the Russian chronicles, the best picture is drawn in the Novgorod chronicles. Prince Alexander (1220-1263) had driven German knights out of Pskov where they had ruled for a year. Alexander sent his mounted reconnoitring party to the rear of the Livonian Order. Having received the information that the order's main forces (10,000-12,000 men) had left Tartu and were nearing Lake Peipus, Alexander brought his troops - 15,000-17,000 men - to the forest on the eastern shores of Lake Lämmijärv. On the early morning of 5 April 1242 the Russians went to the Voron stone moving on ice. At dawn the knights of the order and chudes (Estonians) who were helping them came to the ice field. Mounted knights used the compact "pig's snout" scheme of attacking which had always helped them defeat infantry. The "snout" drove through the Russian infantry but the knights were immediately surrounded by Russians. The Russian cavalry gave them the last blow. According to the chronicle 400 knights and numerous chudes perished. Those who remained alive were pursued up to the north-western shores of Lake Lämmijärv. The ice was thin and many fleeing knights fell through it. 40-50 knights were captured and sent to Novgorod.

Historians have established that the Voron Stone on which Prince Alexander was following the course of the battle has existed. The huge hill (stone) began to crumble as a result of sandstone swelling during several hundred years. In the end only the low bottom of the hill existed, and as the level of water in the southern part of the lake was constantly rising, the stone disappeared. Unfortunately archaeologists have not found any material evidence of the famous battle.