HOW TO GET TO TARTU?
Route: Tartu – Võnnu – Kambja – Nõo – Elva – Puhja - Tartu
The cultural region of Southern Estonia is characterised by scattered settlements – fields, patches of forest, marshlands, meadows and farms in between. This mosaic-like landscape reveals layers of different times and different cultures. While travelling in Tartu County, you may expect to encounter something interesting from the past at every step.
Our history is filled by foreign conquerors and the wars they have waged. Germans, Russians, Poles and Swedish – they have all left some traces in our landscape, language, memory, history and way of life. Sacred groves, burial grounds and sites of ancient hillforts still tell the story of the ancient freedom of our people, the legends of the giants Kalevipoeg and Vanapagan are still preserved in our memory. Of the stone castles and monasteries, which the Germans built when they conquered Estonia, sadly only wall fragments and grass-covered cellar vaults remain. The fortified churches, built in the Estonian villages at roughly the same time, are still prominent in our landscape, the lancet windows and elaborate pediments are sure to charm the visitors. The later Baltic German cultural influence is manifest in countryside manors and in surrounding parks and lanes. The legacy of Imperial Russia is preserved in Orthodox churches and standard-designed railway stations. Old Believers living on the west bank of Lake Peipus are also a part of the history of the Tsarist state. Old Believers are well-adapted to local conditions; they have preserved their faith, traditions and way of life.
1. We leave Tartu taking the road to Räpina. After Lohkva, we turn right in order to visit the site of former Luunja manor. We can turn our eyes towards the River Emajõgi and imagine how the baroque terrace garden on the river bank and water meadow here, once looked like.
2. Travelling further south along the main road, we cross the River Emajõgi. If we turn right immediately after having crossed the bridge, we can see the site of the Vana-Kastre island fort between Rivers Emajõgi and Luutsna. The River Emajõgi was once an important trade route, yet it also provided a convenient route for enemy ships, which sailed along the river. Vana-Kastre was a checkpoint for river traffic and a fort that guarded the access route to Tartu. The stronghold was described in written records by 1342 and in 1392 it was mentioned in an agreement between the merchants of the Hanseatic League and the Novgorodians. It was destroyed by war in 1656. Grass-covered ruins and the moat is all that is now left, and when the water level is low, it is also possible to glimpse the remnants of the water barrier in the river.
3. After Roiu crossroads, the road sign points right to the sacred grove of Kiigeoru in Võruküla. 11 ancient and huge European white elms grow in the grove, where people still bring red ribbons and hang them on the branches of the trees. It was a sacred place for sacrifices and people still come here to ask the spirits for health and luck. Silver coins were considered to be the most suitable offerings.
4. The old parish centre of Võnnu is two kilometres left from the Tartu–Räpina Road. The Võnnu church towering in the middle of the village is one of the biggest countryside churches in Tartu County. The war memorial dedicated to Napoleon’s campaign of 1812 in the Võnnu church is one the most beautiful in Estonia. There is a memorial dedicated to the Estoanian War of Independence infront of the church. In the old cemetery at Võnnu there is an obelisk-chapel dedicated to General A.G. de Villebois (1717–1781), the Lord of the Kurista manor. Gustav Suits, a famous Estonian poet, was born in Võnnu and his childhood memories have been the inspiration behind one of the best known Estonian poem “Kerkokell” (Church Bell).
Nii vaikse kodoküla talo,
kui undse Vooremäe pääl.
Teed kabelihe üle palo
lää lõunevahel lämmäl sääl...
/So silent the houses in my home village
As in my dream I walk on the drumlins
Over the meadows on the road to the chapel
In the afternoon, so hot/
Having completed our round in Võnnu, we will head through Hammaste to the village of Uniküla.
5. The Uniküla drumlin is the highest hill in Tartu County (123 m). As the legend tells us, every once in a while, all the witches from the neighbourhood gather on the top of this hill to celebrate, feast and drink ale and mead from silver cups. We travel further in the direction of Reola. When we reach the railway station, we head south and cross the Tartu–Petseri railway (constructed in 1928–1932).
6. The Imperial Russia’s first higher educational institution specialising in agriculture operated in the manor of Vana-Kuuste in the first half of the 19th century. The neoclassical main building of the manor has been well-preserved and it houses the local school. Baron Otto Reinhold Ludwig Ungern-Sternberg (best known as the Pirate Baron of Hiiumaa, 1744–1811) and Karl Eduard von Liphardt (1808–1891), an art collector and later the Lord of the Raadi manor, were born in Vana-Kuuste. From Vana-Kuuste we continue our journey via the Tartu–Põlva Road for a short while, but then we turn right in order to reach Kambja. The tower of Kambja church is a good landmark to guide travellers in the right direction.
7. Kambja church with its slender tower is a fine testimonial to the perseverance of the Estonian people. Having been destroyed many times in wars, the church has always been rebuilt. The memorials in the churchyard commemorate the Swedish times, when the first full Estonian translation of the New Testament (1686) was completed and one of the first Estonian-language schools was established in Kambja. The memorial contains the inscription of the lines Kiri algab kirikust, rahvas algab raamatust (“Script springs from the church, people begin from the book”) from a poem by Hando Runnel. There is a memorial dedicated to the soldiers who fell in the Estonian War of Independence on the memorial hill in the nearby cemetery. The local council holds its meetings in the renovated manor building.
8. The road takes us next from Kambja to Unipiha. The site of the Unipiha hillfort can be found about 2 km south-east of Unipiha, near the road between Kambja and Nõo. This stronghold was probably populated and in use from 8th to 11th century. The Russian poet Vassili Zhukovski (1783–1852) was once the Lord of Unipiha manor. On the whole the buildings of the manor complex have not been preserved, the manor park still hides the remnants of a romantic grotto and a U-shaped pond. From here we take the gravel road to Luke.
9. The manor park of Luke awaits us in its full glory. The sound of running water, clouds reflecting in the pond, velvety green grass, strange lime trees, romantic ruins and the fully renovated dollhouse-like gardener’s house in the middle of all this splendour should caress the senses of visitors. The guest centre is located in the gardener’s house, where it is also possible to visit an exhibition covering the history of the manor. The arbour in the park is fine place to have a picnic. The Luke (Lugden in German) manor is first mentioned in written records in 1557. The von Löwenwoldes were the manor’s lords in the 17th century. The von Knorrings took over the manor in 1841 and remained its lords until the expropriation of 1919.
10. We digress from our main route to pay a visit to the Jaagupi burial ground, which has been used as the final resting place for local people since 500 BC. This is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient Estonian burial grounds, containing 9–10 rectangular enclosures (i.e. ‘tarand’-graves, a specific type of burial grounds in Estonia) built from large stones. The burial ground was studied by scholars for the first time in 1887, more thorough archaelogical excavations were conducted during 1933–1935 under the supervision of Harri Moora, Professor of the University of Tartu.
11. The fortified church of Nõo dates from the second half of the 13th century. Its dominating Gothic-style main entrance on the western façade of the church resembles the northern entrance of the St Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn. The painting on the altarpiece was created by Tõnis Grenzstein and its wooden carvings were made by Jaan Koort (1910). All church accessories are part of the national cultural heritage. We can also find a local history museum and an orthodox church in Nõo.
12. Travelling south on the Tartu–Valga Road, we can glimpse the domes of the Tõravere Observatory over the fields. Here we can see the largest telescope in the Baltics, visit the Stellarium and virtual planetarium, and listen to fascinating stories about the achievements of modern scientists in the fields of astronomy and cosmology.
13. The holiday town of Elva captivates visitors with it’s small town quietness, clean air of the pine groves, beautiful wooden architecture and green gardens.
14. The manor complex of Suure-Konguta, built on the walls of the stronghold of the Tiesanhausens’ estate is hidden within the surrounding park. The mansion, which was extended by a splendid Jugend-style side wing in 1911, stays empty at present. The granary/cellar of the Suure-Konguta manor has been restored.
15. The village of Annikoru is surrounded by fertile cultivated fields, from here we head towards Puhja.
16. The medieval church of St Dionysius is a testimony to the settlement’s past prominence as the parish centre. Near the church we can find a memorial dedicated to the Estonian War of Independence, and memorial stones dedicated to the local schoolmaster Käsu Hans, and father and son clergymen Andreas and Adrian Virginius. Käsu Hans became famous as the author of the lament for the destruction of Tartu (1704–1708). The Great Northern War had a more devastating effect on the city of Tartu than any of the previous wars: in 1704 the city was conquered by the troops of Peter I, who blew up the fortifications and most buildings. These events compelled Käsu Hans to write a lament in Estonian Oh, ma vaene Tarto liin! (Oh, My Poor Town of Tartu!).
From Puhja we return to Tartu. Vast cultivated fields, some of the largest in the whole South Estonia, are to be found on both sides of the road.
