Introducing Saaremaa
Estonia's largest island still lies covered in thick pine and spruce forests, while old windmills, slender lighthouses and tiny villages still appear as if unchanged by the passage of time. Saaremaa, more than any other place in Estonia, offers a glimpse of 'old Estonia'. There are long empty stretches of sparkling coastline, juniper bushes slumbering beneath the ruins of a 15th-century church, and the stray sheep staring out from an old stone wall.
This unique old-time setting goes hand-in-hand with inextinguishable Saaremaan pride. Saaremaa has always had an independent streak and was usually the last part of Estonia to fall to invaders. Its people have their own customs, songs and costumes. They don't revere mainland Estonia's Kalevipoeg legend, for Saaremaa has its own hero, Suur Tõll, who fought many battles around the island against devils and fiends.
Advertisement
Advertisement
A quiet backstreet of Kuressaare on the island of Saaremaa.
- Jonathan Smith
- Lonely Planet photographer
