HOW TO GET TO TARTU?
Haage Kabelimägi - Kavilda primeval valley - Aleksander Nevski Church - Kavilda fort - Kiigemäe - Puhja - Tamme denudation - Rannu - Võrtsjärv
53 km
We leave Tartu driving along the Viljandi road. We make our first stop at the Haage kabelimägi, a hill on a gravel ridge, which is an archaeological monument under protection. It has not yet been excavated but specialists think that it is an underground burial site of the 15-18th century.
M. J. Eisen (Fairy-tales of the County of Tartumaa, 1929) has published several stories about Kabelimägi. In olden times all kinds of fairies, genii, ghosts moved freely about scaring passers-by and local people. Each night somebody was asking for help, by day moaning and groaning, breaking of bones was heard. Who passed the hill on Thursday or Saturday nights was never seen again. The ghosts had eaten him. Once legs in woollen stockings were found. They belonged to a girl who had disappeared long ago.
A former manor surrounded by big trees attracts our attention. In the written records the name of Haage appeared in 1592 when the Swedish king Sigmund III presented the estate to Johann Grölich, a burgher master from Tartu. In his will he left the estate and all his property to St. John's church in Tartu who remained its owner for three hundred years.
At the distance of 15 km from Tartu we cross the Elva river which is better known as the Ulila river here.
In front of us there is the biggest valley in the county of Tartumaa the primeval valley of Kavilda or Soova on the bottom of which the river Kavilda is flowing.
To the left of the road, at Mõisanurme we see the Russian orthodox church of Alexander Nevski. In the middle of the 19th century 24.4% of the peasants in the parish of Puhja adopted the Russian orthodox religion in the hope of alleviating their sufferings under their local landlords. The decaying church is a monument of this period. Next to it, a lime grove, which is under protection today, reminds us of the bygone days. It is believed to be a sacred place of ancient pagan people. Six lime-trees (the biggest with the circumference of 4.7 m) make us think of the past. the land behind the church is called Veremaa (Blood land) because there were stables where farm hands were whipped and their blood made the land red.
We go to the ancient sacrificial spring. It is protected by a wooden box and the water springs out of sand. We taste the water to see whether it still has a rejuvenating power, or whether it is water after all. Legends tell us that it was a spring of mead. At a distance of 100 m from the new road there is the Siidri hill on which an ancient Estonian stronghold had been built at the beginning of the second millennium. Later a vassal fortress was built on the same site. The first written records of the Kavilda fortress date back to 1495. Next to the site of the fortress, there is Kiigemäe, a favourite place for festivities. There is a swing and a hearth for fires on the eve of St. John's Day. Not far from Kiigemägi the Kavilda primeval valley's widest (0,5 km) and deepest (40 m) stretch can be seen. The slopes of the hill hid about two hundred caves in them. According to legends the caves were inhabited either by knights and landlords or satanic creatures. In real life the local people kept their potatoes, grain and vegetables in these caves.
The borough of Puhja as developed and grown from a parish village into a bigger settlement at the beginning of the 20th century when it was separated both from Viljandi and Tartu by the Sangla, Ulila and Laeva marshes. People had contacts with the outer world boating along the Emajõgi river or travelling via Rõngu. In the middle of Puhja there is St. Dionysius' church built in the Gothic style in 1495-1499. It is one of the most important historical monuments in the neighbourhood. Originally it was a three-naved hall church which was partially destroyed in 1627. The western façade with its profiled portal, gable niches and the console tower has survived. In the churchyard there are a couple of ancient stone crosses and a modest, tomb stone on the Estonian farmer's grave.
The church, the community centre, the secondary school surround a beautiful park of a regular plan. The local educational society planted only lime-trees at the beginning of the 20th century. In the middle of the park we find a monument to commemorate the heroes of the War of Liberation (sculptor A. Starkopf). We continue our trip along the Tartu-Viljandi road. Crossing the marshes of Sangla,which supply the briquette factory with peat, we reach the village of Sangla with its fifty people.
From Sangla we turn to Rõngu. In the village of Neemisküla we see St. Martin's church, the oldest architectural monument in the neighbourhood. Built at the beginning of the 15th century, the church was originally three-naved with almost a square basic plan. After a fire at the beginning of the 17th century during Russian-Polish wars the vaults were replaced with a wooden ceiling and the basic plan was changed. The small gable tower dates back to 1835, the present shape - to 1876. The church is famous for Rudolph von zur Mühlen's altar piece "The Crucifix" (1890), the 16th century pulpit made by an unknown master in the Renaissance style, a Baroque copper chandelier (1699), a pseudo-Gothic altar wall (1890, L. Bandelier from Tartu) and an oaken collecting-box (1755). Opposite the church, on the other side of the road, we can see the former parish school of Rannu.
We move eastward along the abrasion cliff which is 4 km long reaching the mouth of the outflow canal of the Tamme boulder. On the shores many young oak trees grow but the prevailing species is common alder. Two more kilometres and we are near the Tamme manor which is located in the middle of a nice park. Tamme became known due to the peasants uprising during the Northern War. The Dutch windmill at Tamme (built in 1875-1899) has served as a convenient navigation landmark for fishermen. According to a legend Swedes were buried on the site near the windmill. A narrow path through the park of old oaks and limes takes the visitor to the shore. At the water's edge there is a red sandstone cliff (length - 200 m, height - 6.5 m) and huge granite rocks, a few steps from a cape covered with stones.
According to a legend the Old Heathen wanted to build a bridge from Tamme to Tarvastu carrying stones from Ulila and Uderna, but through holes in his apron quite a few stones fell on the ground. The cock-crow "Cock-a-doodle-do!" frightened the devil, he fled and no bridge was built.
According to a legend, in the olden times there had been a sacred lake - Emujärv (Emajärv - mother's lake). Oak and maple forests on the shores were full of fairies and pixies, witches and wizards. When people began to disturb them and pollute the lake, it moved away in great anger. On the reclaimed muddy land people began to build their houses and even a beautiful church was erected near present Võnnusaar. On the eve of St. John's day, when seven brothers entered the church together, a big black cloud covered the sky, and it began to rain so heavily that everything drowned. The new lake was called Virtsjärv (dung-water) or Võltsjärv (a false lake).
From the manor of Tamme we go back to the Sangla-Rõngu road. At the bus-stop there is a birch and oak alley which leads to the manor of Kure. As the agricultural land in the area of Rannu is especially fertile, already in the 1930s people began to call it "the Ukraine".
In the village of Vallapalu (near the local chemist's shop) a footpath leads us to a pine forest. To the right of us, there is an old graveyard (1773). In the 1950s the monument to commemorate the heroes of the War of Liberation was pulled down. Instead, a beautiful sculpture "The mother of Rannu" (sculptor Ole Ehelaid, 1972) was erected.
At a distance of about a kilometre is Lüllemäe where we find a restored Russian orthodox church. The Virgin Mary's Jerusalem Church was built in 1899-1901, restored in 1990. In the middle of the 19th century 23% of the local population adopted the Russian orthodox religion in the hope of improving their economic situation. It was simply called a church of Lülle. Behind the church there are the fields of Lülletaguse farms. E. Jaanus thinks that there was a special area at Lüllemäe were criminals were executed for serious offences. The hills of "lülle" ("gallows" - in Estonian), according to the historian A. Rebane, were the fixed places for implementing court sentences.
Crossing the marshes of Alasoo, we reach the borough of Rannu after covering the distance of three kilometres. The park with it alleys and an artificial lake is surrounded by the manorial buildings and a stone wall. In one of them you can visit the Barbara pub.
At the southern edge of the park on the hill of Kantsimäe there was the stronghold of Rannu. The time of construction is unknown but some historians (J. G. Arndt) mention the year 1288. In 1438 it belonged to Hans von Dolen, in 1466 it was bought from Otto Dolen by Bertram von Tiesenhausen. The family of von Tiesenhausen remained the owner until 1558 when it was devastated during the Livonian War. Some art historians presume that Rannu was a castle-type fortress, with a massive keep surrounded by a wall built of granite and bricks. The manorial complex has partly survived (the granary, the gardener's house, the stables, the shed for coaches, the servants' house). The granary has been converted into a pub - the Barbara - after the design of I. Fjuk.
We turn in the direction of the Võrtsjärve Limnology Station. Having driven through forest, at the forester's house at Lombi a gravel road turns right to take us to the hill of Trepimägi. The stepped eastern shores make this place most picturesque and it is very popular with holiday makers who are attracted by the sandy beach and refreshing waters in the summer. There are magic caves and a huge stone (Pae- or Kalevikivi).
The view opening from behind ancient pines to the glittering surface of the lake and the village of Vehendi is enjoyable. The village is one of the oldest settlements on the eastern shores of Lake Võrtsjärv.
