Apparently God was from Hiiumaa to make such a seaside place. Hiiumaa is bigger from the inside than it looks from the outside. Although seemingly a small, quiet island, both visitor and summer resident will find everything and more here than in the big country or city. Marine, forest and solar batteries to recharge tired brains and batteries are free here. Depending on the time of the year, you can also get juniper, porcini or blueberry preserves.
In Hiiumaa, time moves at a different pace. “Jo vaatab,” says the Hiidlane, dismissing both today’s and tomorrow’s worries. After all, there are so many fun things to do during the day – like listening to the voices of nature and learning how to do productive non-domestic work, as recommended by guest guide Fred Jüssi.
In Hiiumaa you can really take your time and just feel good. Be on your own, take a walk in the woods, throw stones into the water at the beach, watch the stars in the night sky. It’s dark in Hiiumaa, with LED signs and street lighting so you can see into the night. In doing so, you can think or not think – in modern terms, meditate. In Hiiumaa, you can really do it, and the slowing down of time starts to rub off on the guests. It’s chill.
If you don’t dare to take such a sudden break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, you might as well relax to the rhythm of the continent. You can go hiking, horse riding, scuba diving, sailing, climbing, fishing, fishing, playing tennis, lifting weights in the gym, enjoying culture and partying. There’s even a swimming pool, an airfield, a carding track and a gym. If you’re short of space, there’s even a telecommuting office and a rental house with sauna by the sea.
You can find the experiences and places of interest that match your wishes and interests on this website or on the map app.
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The history of the oldest lighthouse not only in Estonia, but anywhere in the Baltic States and indeed on the Baltic Sea, stretches back 500 years, when landmarks were needed to guide ships in the Hanseatic League. The most important east-west trade route in Northern Europe passed the island of Hiiumaa and merchants complained of ships being lost on the Baltic Sea. This led to the construction of the lighthouse at Kõpu to warn ships of the low waters off the island.
The lighthouse was built at 67 metres above sea level at the highest point on Hiiumaa. It stands 36 metres above the ground, meaning its light shines out at 102.6 metres above sea level. No other lighthouses by the Baltic Sea are as high.
The Ristna Lighthouse is located on the Ristna northern cape, which is relatively close to the Kõpu Lighthouse, which is built on a rise in the middle of bogs and is therefore often concealed by fog. This was also the reason that the Ristna Lighthouse was built. It was ordered from France in 1873 and started working in 1874. A 7-pood copper bell was also installed in the lighthouse.
Tahkuna Lighthouse, situated on the north end of Hiiumaa, is a cast-iron lighthouse which’s construction started in 1873. Assembled of cast iron parts, utilising the so-called Gordon system, it was created with prefabricated details. The details were easy to transport, making this tall tower rather easy to build.
Did you know…?
• The lighthouse was bought from the world exhibition of Paris in 1871 by Czarist Russia
• It is Estonia’s tallest lighthouse – 42.7 m above sea level
The baroque Suuremõisa castle was constructed between 1755 and 1760, commissioned by Countess Ebba-Margaretha von Stenbock (née De la Gardie).
Count Jacob Pontus Stenbock, who inherited the estate from his mother the Countess, exchanged it in 1796 for Uuemõisa manor due to his debts. The new owner of Suuremõisa was Otto Reinhold Ludvig von Ungern-Sternberg.
The castle has a museum room introducing the history of the manor, as well as a souvenir and book counter. In addition to beautiful interior and history, the surrounding area of the manor features a flower garden created by Hiiumaa Vocational School, an English park, and various ancillary buildings of the manor complex.
The house, built in the first half of 19th century, is one of the oldest and rarest small town residences in Estonia. Composer and organist Rudolf Tobias, the father of Estonian classical music, was born in the back room of this house on May 29, 1873. His father Johannes was a parish clerk and organist at Käina Church.
The exhibition in the historical parish building provides a detailed overview of the composer’s life and work. The museum’s exhibition also includes 19th and 20th century furniture and musical instruments. In the courtyard of the museum, there is a barn, a cellar and a shed, and a post mill so characteristic of Hiiumaa. The beautiful view of Käina Bay will touch the heart of any visitor.
Mihkli Farm in Malvaste village is an excellent example of the rural architecture of Northern Hiiu County. The buildings are mostly from the 19th century and there, visitors can get to know the local construction practices and household items.
Until the deportation of 1781, the farm was home to a family of Hiiu Swedes. The last residents left the farm in 1987.
The farm’s spacious courtyard is perfect for organizing various events, having a picnic, and simply spending some lovely time. The location is exciting for children and adults alike. Children can play a fun game which helps discover the museum on their own and as they run around.
The Hiiumaa Military Museum is located in the former Tahkuna board guard station. The museum’s most significant exhibit is the collection of coastal defence artillery. This includes 180 mm, 130 mm, and 100 mm artillery guns. The outdoor exhibition includes armoured vehicles such as the BTR-70 and BRDM-2, ZIL-157, GAZ-66, and other cars, as well as a blast shelter, a border guard cutter, naval mines, an anti-tank gun, a watchtower of the border guard, and radar and radio masts. A marine radar is located in the main building of the museum, still in its original place. The exhibition also includes artillery shells, shell casings, helmets, caps and uniforms, communication gear, and civil defence equipment.
The long white stone building is one of the few structures of Vaemla Manor still standing and in use. The building was built in the middle of the 19th century as a hay barn for the manor.
Currently, a family company named Hiiu Vill (Hiiu Wool) operates here. The oldest wool processing machines have been brought from Poland. Similar ones were operating here in the 1860s. It is assumed that the current ones date back to the 19th century, although the exact dates are unknown. The family members will gladly show you the machinery, although they are meant for doing actual work.
The history of Sooääre farm, that was its
the original name dates back at least for 200 years. The oldest part of the cottage-cum threshing barn originates from the first half of XIX century, it’s a threshing barn room with soil floor and people used to live there and also dry crop in the autumn. Living room with chambers was built in the second half of the XIX century.
Smoke sauna, paargu or better known as a summer kitchen, storehouse, cellar, coach house and victualler (former cowshed) are all part of the Farm Museum. There are also remains of an old dug well. In all buildings, there are expositions of archaic tools and commodities. Soera was a typical XIX century Hiiu household.
The exhibition in Palade House of Rocks museum provides a comprehensive overview of the landscapes of Hiiumaa, its geological history, the local fossils, the Kärdla meteorite crater, and the use of rocks over time.
The museum includes an outdoor classroom which is partly surrounded by glass.
Sõru Museum is located in the village of Pärna in Emmaste parish and belongs to the Sõru Maritime Centre complex. The museum was established under the leadership of Ms Milvi Vanatoa with the aim of collecting and preserving the stories and traditions of the local coastal village.
In addition to the permanent exhibitions, there are three halls for other exhibitions. There is a seminar room on the first floor of the building where you can organise various round tables, study days, and other smaller events.
This is not a shopping centre in the traditional sense of the word – it is a place that will give you something to look at and think about. Everything on display has been collected from our local beaches or kindly donated from people all over the world – and represents everything that finds its way into the sea.
You can even buy a thing or two as well – there is quite a selection, and one that is often unique, surprising, and not rubbish at all! Here, the present, past, and future of our shores and seas meet, together with their magic and pain, carelessness and inspiration, beauty and ugliness.
This unusual name marks the location of a unique headland. You know you are close to the destination if you see the statue of Leigri, a hero of Hiiu County.
The esker runs from north-east to south-west. Its higher parts are covered with vegetation but become a beach full of pebbles. Unique trees and shrubs grow here: honeysuckle, alder buckthorn, buckthorn, and snowball tree. There is an abundance of sea kale on the shores, which make the beach an amazing sight during the flowering period. Not to mention the marvellous brier flowers. Kassari is a popular place for summer holidays: for example, the writer Aino Kallas and the linguist-diplomat Oskar Kallas have stayed here.
At first, you don’t see more than just a large pile of rocks. Yet it is clear that the strength of ordinary hands would not be sufficient to achieve this. It is often thought this an ancient sacred place, a place where fundamental agreements were concluded, and consultation held with the gods. It is also thought that the pile of rocks marks the grave of Nordic King Ingvar. Ingvar was killed in Estonia around 600 and buried in a place marked with the name Kivi (Rock). There are also stories that this is the place where seaman brought the gods rocks for luck before embarking on voyage. It is also said that manor lord O. R. L. von Ungern-Sternberg was planning to build an Egyptian-style pyramid.
The 35-metre long and 8-metre wide three-masted motor sailboat Ernst Jaakson (Alar) is the largest old boat to survive in Estonia. The boat was built in 1937–1939 in the Village of Õngu on Hiiumaa Island. Most of its life was spent abroad. Now after 50 years, this giant has been brought back for restoration to the Sõru Harbour in Hiiumaa, which is the only wooden boat restoration centre in Estonia.
Welcome to the northmost lavender field in the world!
The Lavender Farm is located on a rocky and sunny slope, on the edge of the Kärdla meteorite crater. Our 20,000 lavender plants grow in an area of almost 1 hectare and blossom from late June to early August. We make exciting products from lavender, such as lavender jam, lavender spice and lavender micellar water. During blossoming, there are 100,000 helpers at the edge of the field, who diligently harvest lavender honey.We look forward to seeing you at the Open Farm Day, Harvest Party and Conservation Holiday. At other times or with a bigger group, visits can be booked individually.
The Pühalepa Church is Hiiumaa’s oldest stone church. In 1255, the German Order started the construction of a stone fortress-church. Initially lacking a steeple, the arched stone church was completed in the 14th century; construction of the steeple started in 1770. After it renovation in the 19th century, Crosses of Malta were painted on the walls that are primarily associated with the membership of the Ungern-Sternberg family members in this Order.
Interesting fact:
One of the inauguration crosses has survived on the wall of the choir room.An unusual stone pulpit was given to the Pühalepa Church by the Hiiesaare manor lords, the Gentschiens in 1636.The burial chapel of the von Stenbock family is in the churchyard.
Reigi did not become an independent parish until 1627. Baron O. R. L. von Ungern-Sternberg had its stone church – which is dedicated to Jesus – built in memory of his son Gustav, who had taken his own life. The greatest treasure of Reigi church is its art collection.
Did you know…?
The name ‘Reigi’ comes from Swedish and means ‘smoke’ or ‘signal fire’Pihla Tavern, known from Gustav Ernesaks’s opera ‘Stormy Beach’, was located across the street from the churchInspired by the words of Runeberg, Pastor G. F. Rinne wrote a song of praise to Hiiumaa to a tune by Pacius
The Estonian Orthodox Hiiumaa Church of the Birth of the Mother of our Lord in the Village of Kuriste was completed in 1873. The historicist-style stone church was established on the island in the course of the conversion movement. The stones were brought from Riga. Icons and liturgical textiles from the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries are on display. The former priest’s house is located next to the stone church. The church is the only orthodox church to have survived in Hiiumaa, where services also take place.
Construction of this stone church started in 1866, after the Sõru wooden church near the Emmaste Manor became usable. The land for the new church was presented to the congregation by the lady of the manor, Countess Brevern de la Gardie.
The nave resembles a church hall, despite the two rows of thin support columns. The choir room is separated from the nave by a high, but relatively narrow, triumphal arch. The Emmaste Church has a unique altar painting entitled The Resurrection. The author of the painting, as confirmed by the signature at the bottom of the canvas, is Tõnis Grenzstein, the distinguished representative of the Dusseldorf School in Estonia. The altar painting was completed in 1900.
During the period from 1889 to 1891, an apostolic orthodox church and a schoolhouse for the children of the congregation were built in Puski. The peculiar choice of location has been explained by the fact that the first Russian priests of Puski did not know the local conditions. The land was owned by Ungern-Sternberg who, as an opponent of the attack of orthodox faith and religious conversion in general, donated a plot in the middle of nowhere. Nowadays there are ruins of the church and schoolhouse in Puski and a quiet village graveyard sleeping with the sough of wind in the pine grove.
The ruins are located in the heart of the locality Käina. The church was built at the turn of the 15th – 16th century. The Gothic church in Käina seated 600 persons and was the biggest church on Hiiumaa. The church was destroyed in 1941. Several tombstones as well as the sun cross above the entrance are protected as art monuments. A fire in the church destroyed many art treasures: the altar of the Virgin Mary, Saint Nicholas and Saint Antonio, the organ built by the father of the Estonian composer Rudolf Tobias etc. The church also served as the parish centre for many centuries. The ruins have now been conserved, the restoration of the church is planned. The trees that surround the church form a nice park, as the locals call it.
The first chapel was erected in thanks to God by Danish seamen, who had escaped from a shipwreck on the Mänspäe coast. The chapel was built from the pieces of the shipwreck and is said to have had room for only 10 people. In the first half of the 19th century, one of the first “reading schools” in the area operated in the chapel. The present Mänspäe Chapel – the third at this location – was built by the Emmaste Manor lord, Baron Hoiningen-Huene based on a plan designed in 1908. The builder was master builder Toomas Koolmeister. In 2006, the chapel received a new coat of paint, which is exactly the same shade of yellow as when the chapel was built a century ago.
The City Park takes up 5.2 ha. The first part of the park was established in the 1860s after the church was finished in a place called Kirikupõllu (Church field). A more thorough tree planting took place in the beginning of the 20th century. The youngest part of the park was planted in the 1970s. Kärdla song festival grounds are located in the City Park. The first song festival in Hiiumaa took place in 1867 in Leigri village in the yard of Murru pub. There is evidence of a children’s party in Lepakopil in Kärdla already from 1874. In 1926 the first national song festival was held in Kärdla. This was conducted by Tuudur Vettik, a composer, choral conductor and music teacher who later became one of the leaders of the Estonian national song festivals.
In summer, the information point of Orjaku village centre, located at the Orjaku harbour, provides the opportunity to see various exhibitions, buy local handicrafts, use the services of a public internet point, and find tourist information about the sights and events in Hiiumaa.
You can organise trainings, seminars, or family events in the village centre.
From May to September, different cultural events take place on the island of Kassari, including the Cultural Thursdays of Kassari. You can also enjoy hikes in the wilderness, special theme nights, and concerts.
In Orjaku, you can go out on the sea on fishing boats and yachts, rent row boats, water bikes, and bikes.
SEE YOU AT THE HARBOUR!
The limestone main building of the Kassari Manor is home to the permanent exhibition ‘Life on the island. Fire, water, air, earth.’ which gives a glimpse into the everyday life and events of the people of Hiiumaa, but also leaves room for philosophical reflection and important turning points in the history of the island. Thousands of years of human life are presented here through the four primitive elements mentioned in the title. The exhibition features a large number of objects and in addition to well-known consumables, there are also some contemporary items that have been made on the spot.
The museum shop has a wide selection of handicrafts and souvenirs from Hiiumaa.
Bronze bell – a ship’s or soul bell that starts ringing by itself in a strong wind. With the movement of its cross-shaped pendulum in a storm, it seems a bring a message from the sea – a bell tower in a way … symbolically. The incline of the monument has a visual and emotional impact and should also call to mind the last moments of the ship. Tender details are also added to the bronze bell – four child faces on each of the main points of the compass.
About 455 million years ago, a meteorite crater about 4 kilometers in diameter formed in shallow seawater on the other side of the equator. After many geological processes such as the formation of sediments, the movement of the earth’s crust and several ice ages, the crater is difficult to see in nature today.
In order to get a better overview of the special natural monument, a model field of the crater has been built, which gives a spatially perceptible picture of the size and proportions of the Kärdla crater. The model field has a hundredfold reduction compared to the actual size of the crater, its diameter is about 43 meters and the length of the circle is 140 meters.
The Heltermaa Handicraft House is the largest and most attractive handicraft shop at Heltermaa Harbour, at the gates of Hiiumaa, in a former tavern.
We sell handiwork made in Hiiumaa! Here, we have handicraft made by our grandmothers next to the work of youth and companies.
Everything you find here is made in Hiiumaa and by people living here. Every piece carries the soul and might of its maker.
The souvenir shop of Hiiumaa Museum is located in Kärdla, in the Long House of Hiiumaa Museum. The shop sells a wide range of handicrafts and souvenirs made by local craftsmen. You can also buy paintings, glass art, jewellery, ceramics, magnets, mugs, and postcards.
Our books cover a wide range of topics: history, nature, cooking, crafts, fiction, school literature, and children’s books.
The Hiiumaa Museum souvenir shop is also located in the Kassari Exhibition House.
Also visit our online store on our website.
Hiiumaa craftsmen’s shop is located in Kärdla in a historic factory yard of the Broadcloth Factory. Here, you can find unique handicrafts, souvenirs of Hiiumaa, local body care products, and many other beautiful items for decorating your home.
The crafts of Hiiumaa are exclusive and unique.
Welcome!
HIIUMAA CRAFTSMEN
Knitting shop Üll is located in a lovely yellow building in Kärdla, in the historic Factory Square. There, slow fashion is made with fast knitting needles. Inspired by traditions and the latest trends, we make hats, scarves, gloves, socks, cardigans, and everything else here. Our soft knitwear, the sound of knitting needles, and an armchair make this a paradise. And the selection really is abundant!
Only a wool warehouse built in 1849 remains of the barns that used to form the Kärdla Marina building complex; it was used by the Kärdla broadcloth factory (in business between 1830–1941) to store large balls of wool that were shipped here from Australia and New Zealand. The building is made of limestone and covered in lime plaster.
The second warehouse in the marina has two floors and is also made of limestone and covered in lime plaster; this used to be the office of the marina. The building, formerly a barn, was constructed in 1849 and the locals call it Viinaladu (‘vodka storage’).
The public is not admitted inside the buildings.
Scrolls mention Suursadam harbor for the first time as Sääre Sadam (Serle Ham) in 1593. In 1680 Dutchman Erasmus Jacobson built a bigger ship-building concern in Suursadama harbor. There were lime-furnaces nearby. The production of these lime-furnaces was sent to many ports of the Baltic Sea.
In 1848 a 358-ton bark (ship), “Hioma”, was built in this harbor. This sailboat was the biggest boat in Estonia in the 19th century. “Hioma” was the first sailboat that sailed over the equator in 1854 and around Kap Hoorn into the Pacific Ocean.
A big storehouse has been taken under protection as an architectural monument.
Three small rivers flow through Kärdla: Nuutri River, Liivaoja and Kammioja, as well as innumerable ditches, streams and streamlets. These waterways are bridged with small bridges called trumms (“drums”). The word trumm is borrowed from the Estonian Swedish language (trumma) and it was used everywhere in Hiiumaa for a bridge that could be crossed with a carriage. Today, the word trumm is used for bridges only in Kärdla and all the trumms have names.
Kärdla Fire and Rescue Society was established in the middle of the 19th century by the management of the broadcloth factory and it was based at the factory. The construction of the fire station began in 1928. The poor economic situation of the beginning of 1930s dragged out the construction and the fire station was finished (with weatherboarding and exterior paint) only in 1937. The newly completed wooden building had 3 rooms and a tower for drying hoses. By today, a mansard has been added.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the fire station is home to the Tourist Information Centre.
The construction of the Kärdla power plant began in 1954. It is a fully functional diesel power plant with all the necessary machinery. All the equipment is in working order.
The chimney of the power plant was built in years 1953-1954 with special chimney bricks. The chimney is 40 meters high.
Kärdla power plant was shut down in 1977. Its 8 diesel engines were conserved and Hiiumaa was integrated into the single Estonian energy system with a cable brought along the seabed from Saaremaa.
The power plant complex located on the beautiful Nuutri river forms a unique ensemble which can be admired from the outside by all visitors.
In 1830, barons Ungern-Sternberg established a broadcloth factory in Kärdla. Today’s factory square formed the core of the factory complex. The four-storey broadcloth factory was located on the south side of the courtyard of the factory on the shores of the Nuutri river. On the western side of the courtyard, there was the residence of the factory director – known as the Long House, today home to the Hiiumaa Museum is located.
On the northern side of the square, 4 single-storey wooden houses or shop master’s houses for senior officials of the factory were erected and have preserved well until the present time. The houses had large gardens.
Until the end of 1970s, a house with pillars or the Summer Manor was located on the eastern side of the square. In the early years of the broadcloth factory, it was the residence of the factory director.
According to legend, there was a pile in Tubala village which used to keep Hiiumaa fixed to the sea bottom so that it does not drift away.
A pile was dug into the ground on 28 July 2003 to tell the ancient legend, but is also meant to support the entire culture of Hiiumaa – for at least as long as the Kõpu Lighthouse has stood on Hiiumaa. The Kõpu Lighthouse Foundation was established on 24 July 1999 to support the cultural life of Hiiumaa. The Board of the foundation decided that all donors would receive a nail bearing the donor’s name.
Traditionally, the nails awarded to new donors are hit in the Tubala pile every year on 28 July.
The Hill of Crosses is an area on the highway covered with crosses, the development of which is related to the expulsion of the Reigi Swedes in August 1781. Tsarina Catherin II signed an order that allowed the Swedes to resettle in South-Ukraine. On August 20, 1781, the emigrants gathered on the Hill of Crosses and conducted their last church service. Thus they said farewell to the place that been home to the Swedes for at least 400 to 500 years. Initially, the people who were leaving the island came to the Hill of Crosses to make their crosses. Today, things are backwards – crosses are made by those who come to the island for the first time.
The largest area of loose sand in Estonia is located on Hiiumaa!
If you think you have already seen everything Hiiumaa has to offer, we invite you to discover something completely different! In the Pihla-Kaibaldi Nature Reserve, in the middle of a beautiful pine forest, there is a crescent-shaped field with loose sand. The nearly 12-hectare area was formed during World War II as a result of forest fires and the subsequent use as a training ground for tanks.
The sandy forest trails, unique heath pines, and white lichen there invite you to a short hike.Good to know: the Pihtla-Kaibaldi Nature Reserve was established in 1998 to preserve this unique natural community and the largest area of loose sand in Estonia, which was created partly due to human activities.
Kassari chapel is a building with romantic appearance that is the only functioning thatched-roof stone church in Estonia. Reputedly it dates back to 18th century because on the inner wall of the chapel there is a year 1801 that is associated with big repair.
In the graveyard there are the graves of many famous people – the ancestors of the poets M. Under and D. Vaarandi; the actor Olev Eskola; familiar from V.Panso book “The Funny Person” Lepa Anna. Familiar from art, literature and folk tales the name of Villem Tamm, whom J. Köler used as a model for Christ when painting his work “Come to me” in Kaarli church.
A post mill with a classic wooden structure. The base of the mill is made of rocks without binder. The mill has a board roof covering and its body has horizontal boarding. It was built in the second half of the 19th century. Two post mills have been preserved in Harju village (Nõmme and Rätsepa).
The limestone Partsi windmill, built in the 19th century, is a smock mill with a frame in the shape of a truncated cone. The roof of the mill used to resemble an upside down boat.
A pearling machine, millstones and some of the transmission system of the mill still survive.
The mill has been restored and the rooms have been refurbished for community activities; nevertheless, all those who are interested can still admire the exterior of the mill.
Kallaste cliff is a limestone outcrop, about 400 metres long and up to 10 metres tall.
There is an old pine forest on the cliff, through which you can walk along the terrace. In the southern part of the cliff, there is a biohermal reef, formed from coral and other marine invertebrates. It is one of the most representative of its kind in Estonia. Several rare species of fern and flowering plants grow in the cliff’s fissures.
According to legend, Vanapagan used to make weapons inside the Kallaste cliff for the locals during the ancient war for freedom.
The church of Kärdla was dedicated to John the Baptist and was constructed in 1863. It is the third church in Kärdla.
The barons of Emmaste, Suuremõisa and Putkaste were the initiators of the idea to build the church and gave the baron of Kärdla 2000 roubles for that purpose. The workers of the cloth factory made voluntary donations and a part of the money for the construction was taken from the workers wages. It is an architecturally harmonic, typical hall church with an “open” bell tower crowning the western facade (unique in Estonia). The architecture of the stylish and beautiful church in Kärdla is simple and ascetic. This architectural monument is one of the most distinguished working-class churches.
Heilu rocks were first described and characterised by the Russian geologist Gregor Helmersen in 1871 and 1879. His name is also connected to rocks elsewhere in Estonia.
With over 80 rocks on the 0.5 hectare plot, carried to their location by glacial ice, geologist Gregor Helmersen described the Helmersen rock field as the most magnificent group of boulders originating from Finland that he had ever seen in the Baltic countries.
Ristna Visitor Centre, which forms the centre of Hiiumaa Recreation Area, administered by the State Forest Management Centre (RMK), is in the village of Kalana, just off the Kõpu–Ristna road. It provides information about all leisure options offered by the RMK on the beach and in the forest in the Hiiumaa Recreation Area.
A photo exhibition showcasing the diverse nature of Kõpu Peninsula is open all year round. We offer nature study programmes and organise events with a forest and nature theme. Ristna Nature Centre can also be rented as a venue for nature-themed events.
A ‘sea supermarket’ is also open. You will have to come and see for yourself what is sold there.
Alvars can be best described as thin-soiled meadows rich in lime where there are almost no trees or bushes. Alvars can have up to 20 centimetres of soil but at times there is no soil at all and vegetation in these cases can be found only in cracks of the cliffs or smaller concavities. In different seasons the same alvar can look very different, depending on the amount of precipitation. On Sarve peninsula you can see alvars in gravel-pebble beach ridge by the sea. These alvars are different in comparison with those in North-Estonia or other alvars in West-Estonia.
Kurisu sinkhole is located near Kurisu village.
The upper part of the sinkhole has a diameter of about 32 metres, in the lower part it narrows down to 12 metres, and it is 6.2 metres deep. In here, the creek coming from Pihla wetland disappears under the ground.
In summer, when the weather is dry, you can see a limestone bedrock and a little opening to a cave at the bottom of the sinkhole. During high water in spring, so much surface water gathers here that the crater is filled with it and some of it spills over to the surroundings so that the whole place is reminiscent of a little lake.
The water that disappears into the sinkhole re-surfaces on the ground 3 km away on an old pasture in Pihla village.
The slanted limestone layers of the meteor crater near Kärdla, Hiiu County put pressure on groundwater. The water bursts out of the ground in an uninterrupted stream through pipes placed 10–15 metres under the ground’s surface.
There are especially many artesian wells on Tiigi and Aia streets and people can also drink crystal-clear water from the well on the corner of Aia and Pikk streets. You will see many fountains in the yards when walking down Aia Street – these are all artesian.
They look especially beautiful in winter when ice sculptures form on the fountains.
There is a monument called Kivi-Jüri in Hiiumaa that looks like a soldier’s head on a granite base, located at the crossroads of Heltermaa, Käina and Kõrgessaare highways coming from Kärdla. The authors of the monument are sculptor Endel Taniloo and architect Ülo Sirp. Kivi-Jüri is the largest granite bust and it weighs altogether 46 tons, 36 tons of which is the base and 10 tons the head leaning on the base. The monument was opened in September 1966 to commemorate all soldiers.
The study bed provides an excellent possibility for examining domestic orchids within a short period of time and without any guides. There are 10 species of orchids growing naturally on the study bed. The best time to see blooming species of orchids is around Midsummer’s Day. However, some species bloom also in July and August.
The study bed is located next to the car park. Boardwalk, time of completion 15 minutes. There are colourful information boards on the study bed.
Luidja alder forest may seem like an average black alder forest to everyday passers-by as you can find these trees elsewhere in Hiiumaa marshes and stream banks. But in fact this is an area which has more than a hundred year history in experimenting with fixating unique dunes. The alder forest was first established due to the need to protect the beach road of Luidja and the nearby fields and meadows from blowing sands. The alder forest was established by Karl Friedrich Vilhelm Ahrens (1855-1938) who was born in Germany in Meclenburg-Schwerin. He studied forestry in Rostock and Greifsvald. Ahrens established the alder forest in order to fixate the sand dunes in 1901-1903.
The items offered by KlaasiPank are designed by artists Kalli Sein (glassware, corporate gifts, glass clocks, awards, cups) and Valev Sein (stained glass, special design glass lamps and chandeliers, paintings).
The studio offers a selection of smaller series items, glass trays, glass jewellery, and souvenirs.
You can engrave a name or dedication to the items for birthdays, anniversaries, and weddings.We pack the glassware in gift boxes with silk paper.
Items can be ordered in various colours or sizes. Orders take at least a few weeks.
The 35-metre long and 8-metre wide three-masted motor sailboat Ernst Jaakson (Alar) is the largest old boat to survive in Estonia. The boat was built in 1937–1939 in the Village of Õngu on Hiiumaa Island. Most of its life was spent abroad. Now after 50 years, this giant has been brought back for restoration to the Sõru Harbour in Hiiumaa, which is the only wooden boat restoration centre in Estonia.