6. Tartu - Kambja - Vana-Kuuste

Estonian Museum of Agriculture - Tartu Airport - Kambja - St. Martin's church - Suure-Kambja - Vana-Kuuste

22 km

We leave Tartu moving along the Võru road. To the east, in the distance, there is the Aardla or Roela valley on the bottom of which we see Lake Aardla, behind the lake - the valley of the Emajõgi river, the hills of Vooremägi and Kambja. At the distance of seven kilometres from Tartu we reach the borough of Ülenurme which was founded in the first half of the 17th century. Ülenurme became known in the 1930s when a thermal power station began to supply the southern part of the County of Tartu with electricity. An eclectic manor (built in 1856-1878) is surrounded by a park laid out in the second half of the 19th century. The main axis of the park is a lime alley starting from the Tartu - Ülenurme road. Ülenurme can boast of a unique museum in Estonia - the Museum of Agriculture. The exposition is held in the manorial outbuildings (the stables, the cowshed, the carpenter's workshop, the smithy, the granary, etc.).

During the last four millennia people have cultivated land. The museum's rich collections reflect the process of growing one's daily bread. There are specialised exhibitions devoted to the history of growing crops, flax, poultry-farming, animal husbandry, horticulture, apiculture. We can see old horse-drawn vehicles (wagons, sledges, carts). In the open air exhibition ground there are different agricultural machines. Also, a windmill from Saaremaa has been brought to the museum. In the museum depository 58,000 units including 6,419 implements, machines and other objects, 22,000 books and 27,000 photos have been stored. In the distance, near the bus stop of Ülenurme we can get a glimpse of the Airport of Tartu (opened in 1946). Each year more than 4,000 passengers flew to Moscow, Kiev, Simferopol, Tallinn, Pärnu, Kuressaare, Kärdla and Pskov. In spring and autumn when it is impossible to go by boat to the island of Piirissaar, the only connecting link is flying. The airfield is also used for training pilots. The airport is open for international flights each day.

At the crossroads where the new Tartu-Võru road begins, the inn of Ühti from the beginning of the 19th century has survived as the only architectural monument of this type. It has not been altered very much. The inn was a place where local people met each other, discussed latest news, local events, things happening far and wide. When it was necessary to fight against the landlords, the peasants gathered together in the local inn which became their centre of coordinated fight. Also, merchants signed their trade contracts, land-owners hired their farm-hands here.

The landscape becomes hilly. We reach the Otepää highlands with its valleys and hills.

After having travelled 18 kilometres, we see the borough of Kambja which is called Väike-Kambja and Kirikuküla. The parish of Kambja was first mentioned in 1471 when it had 35 estates.

Today Kambja is a modern rural settlement. The municipal government occupies the manor of Wastse-Kambja which has been rebuilt. The St. Martin's church, located on the shore of a beautiful lake, is the symbol of Kambja. For the first time the church was mentioned in 1330. In 1471 there was a wooden church on the same site. During archaeological excavations the remains of the earlier building - walls of the altar and vestry - were discovered. During both the Livonian War and the Northern War the church was repeatedly ransacked and burnt down. In 1720 the church was newly built, this time from stone. In 1874 the church was bombed and for many years it was in ruins. In 1989 the restoration work started. Instead of the burnt old organ which was made by Guido Kraus in 1878 the church was presented a new organ by the Träsiöri congregation in Sweden. Old bells cast in Moskow have survived. In the churchyard we see the tombstones of B. G. Forselius, Ignatsi Jaak, Albrecht Sutori, Andres Virginius and Albert Virginius. There is an oak-tree which was planted by the Swedish crown prince Gustav Adolf in 1932.

The progressively-minded clergymen Andreas and Albert Virginius are closely connected with Kambja. Andreas Virginius, who was born at the parsonage of Nõo, worked as a pastor of Kambja for 41 years (1660-1701). Thanks to his good knowledge of Estonian he became a translator of the New Testament. As specialists say today, it was the first translation into the Southern Estonian language which was printed in 500 copies. In 1686-1926 it was reprinted twenty times thus serving as an impetus for the development of the Estonian literary language. In the Northen Estonian language it was published for the first time only in 1715. Andreas Virginius also translated several parts of the Old Testament into Southern Estonian, together with L. Moller and M. Schütz the catechism and song books.

Kambja has always been a centre of cultural life. We may consider it the cradle of Estonian choral singing because thanks to the pastor Albert Sutori (1691-1758) who started the movement of congregations of brethren. During the common prayer singing played a key role in expressing one's religious feelings. This is why also reading song books and written music was taught. In 1794 a children's choir was established. Girls and boys (after breaking their voices) practised polyphonic singing. The choir is the predecessor of later mixed and children's choirs. Soon the church choir became a parish choir attracting more people. Kambja is also one of the oldest educational centres in Estonia. Andreas Virginius opened the first schools for the rural population.

At the distance of 2.5 km from the borough of Kambja we reach the village of Suur-Kambja driving along a road in the forest rich in silver fir, larch, not to speak of the traditional species - pines and the Norway spruce. The highest European larches (height - 23 m, diameter - 1 m) grow in the park of Suur-Kambja. At the edge of the park two small rivers - the Peeda and the Laaneoja meet. In the 1950s the local schoolchildren built a small village power station. In front of the Suur-Kambja manor two oldest European larches in Estonia grow. In the summer of 1827 the Russian poet Nikolai Yazykov (1803-1847) spent his holiday in the manor. His contemporaries consider him one of the most famous poets after Pushkin.

From Suure-Kambja we move on to the village of Vana-Kuuste passing Lalli and Rebase. The first mention of the estate dates back to 1627. It had belonged to the family of Zoege, later the most famous owners were von Liphardt, Ungern-Sternberg and von Sievers families. The park of Vana-Kuuste (3.5 ha) was laid out at the beginning of the 19th century. The ancient lime-trees planted in those days still survive. In 1834-1839 the first higher agricultural school and research centre in Russia - the Agricultural Institute of Vaste-Kuuste - occupied the manor.

Otto Reinhold Ludwig von Ungern-Sterberg and Karl Eduard von Liphardt were born at Vana-Kuuste. O. R. L. von Ungern-Sternberg (1744-1811) was the infamous Count of Ungru who made fires to lure the foreign ships to the Shoal of Hiiumaa causing purposeful shipwrecks. The count had moved to the island of Hiiumaa in 1772. He was the owner of several estates (including Kõrgessaare and Suuremõisa). In 1804 he was convicted of the murder of a Swedish skipper and plundering ships. He was deported to Russia. Robert von Ungern-Sternberg (1886-1921) served all his life in the Russian Cossack Troops. In 1921 he was the commander of the so-called Asian Division waging a war against China. He conquered the Mongolian capital Urga and later (from May to September 1921) actually ruled Mongolia. He became famous as a supporter of Buddhism and an extremely brutal person. It was his idea to establish a Buddhist state uniting Asian nomads.

Land marshal Karl Gotthard von Lipart's (1778-1853) son K. E. von Liphart (1808-1891) following his father became a famous art historian and a collector. The Lipharts' collection of art (paintings, drawings, graphic art, sculptures) exhibited in the manor of Raadi was the largest and most diversified in the Baltic countries. Their library of 30,000 volumes was also outstanding. K. E. Liphart died in Florence. His collection was sold and only some of his books reached the library of Tartu University where you can also find them today