What to do and see in Saare County, Saare County: The Best Monuments & Statues

The sculpture, situated in front of the SPA Hotel Meri was created in 2002 by a renowned Estonian sculptor Tauno Kangro. The sculpture depicts Suur Toll (the Great Toll), a mythical hero of the island Saaremaa, and his wife Piret.Good to know:According to the Legend, Sorve peninsula was important to Toll, as from there he reached the shortest way to the island Ruhnu, where he had his cabbage field. When his wife Piret started to make a fire under the cauldron, then Toll went through the sea to his cabbage field and came back in half an hour, so that he could hand Piret the cabbages when the water had just started to boil.

The night battle of Tehumardi took place in the late night hours of 8 October 1944. The Tehumardi night battle was one of the bloodiest battles of World War II that took place on Saaremaa. The battle was fought between Germans and Russians. The Russians came out as the winners of this battle.Good to know: One had to differentiate between one’s own people and the enemy predominantly by means of the helmet. In memory of the dead soldiers a monument was erected - it has the shape of a sword bearing depictions of male faces.

The monument was erected to commemorate those who lost their lives in the War of Independence (1918-1920). The author of the monument is Amandus Adamson, a well-known sculptor in Estonia whose best known work is the Russalka (mermaid) monument in Tallinn. The construction of the monument began in Italy in 1927. The monument was opened in 1928. Later 2 bronze plates were added to the monument containing the names of the inhabitants of Saaremaa who were wounded or have died in the war.Good to know:This figure is not the original. The original was tossed into the sea by Soviet troops and was never found. A local sculptor from Saaremaa recreated it.