What to do and see in Viljandi County, Viljandi County: The Best Things to do

Pilistvere Memorial is a tomb piled up from stones with a cross in front of the tomb. By carrying stones to the bottom of the cross Estonians remember their fellowmen who were deported to Siberia. This is a place were all Estonians who lost someone during the deportation can come to as to a symbolic grave and to honour them.

Siniallkas (“Bluespring”) was an ancient sacrificial spring, named after its crystal clear water and its peculiar blue colour, which is due to the blue clay settled at the bottom of it.Interesting to know:A legend tells of a blue-eyed maiden who was teased by the lord of the manor. Out of distress, she drowned herself in the spring.The spring is said to reveal a treasure if seven brothers drank from it together.The water of the spring was believed to have a healing power. Silver coins were thrown into it as a sacrifice. Nearby is a hill fort, where ancient Estonians built a stronghold in the 12th-13th century, and Lake Sinialliku.

The Suure-Jaani parish stretches over the area which at the end of Estonian Antiquity had Lembitu’s stronghold in Lohavere as its centre. Lembitu was a famous leader of an ancient Estonian county during the Ancient War of Independence.The church built in the middle of the 13th century consisted of the choir, the three-part nave and the steeple, possibly the first steeple in Estonia. The church got its present appearance from 1869 to 1872. Today, only few medieval details can be seen. Interesting to know:In the room under the steeple, there is a cross from the graveyard with the name Anne Ratecep and the year 1598 written on it. According to the legend, Anne washed and clothed the ones who had died of plague during the Livonian War. For that, the people dedicated a cross to her.

The bridge made by the Riga company Felser & Co in 1879 was erected amid the castle hills in Viljandi in 1931. It was a present by the lord of the Tarvastu Manor Karl von Mensenkampf.Interesting to know:*The bridge is over 50 m long.* It was erected over a valley which is 15 m deep.* At first, the bridge was located over the moat in Tarvastu to make it easier for the family of the lord to visit the chapel in the ruins. The rope bridge has become a favourite object of both citizens and visitors of Viljandi and one of the town’s important symbols. It was reconstructed in 1995.

Lake Viljandi is in a primeval valley, which is 11 m deep, 450 m wide and 4600 metres long. The lake is well-known in Estonia thanks to the song about the boatman of VIljandi, who day-dreams about the beautiful blue eyes of a girl he once saw when he was young. The trail that goes around the lake will take hikers to the observation platform on the other shore where you will see a charming and unique silhouette of the town.

The park is located on the slope of the ancient valley and is named after the ruins of the order castle. When the town started to grow in the second half of the 19th century the need for a recreational zone arose. In 1863 the right to use the castle hills was received from the manor. The works were initiated in 1893.In 1925 the Varese sild (Crow bridge) was finished and connected the town with the park.Interesting to know:· the works where initially carried out by convicts. These were people who were bearing liability in the house of detention for whatever reason and were thereby able to shorten their sentence.A main component of the landscape of the park is the relief, the proximity of a body of water is also important.Take a look at the aerial panorama (picture by Joel Tammet).

The stone castle started to appear on the place of the former Estonian stronghold in 1224. The fortress got its final shape and size in the beginning of the 16th century and was one of the distinguished fortresses in Estonia and Latvia. Due to wars between Sweden, Poland and Russia all that is left from the entire order castle today are just a few stone walls.Already in the beginning of the last century the ruins of the fortress and the park around it turned into a recreational area for the residents of Viljandi. In order to access the castle hills from town a rope bridge was build from the Kaeuvumagi hill over the 13 meters deep trench in 1931. From the ruins you have the most beautiful view over the lake of Viljandi.

Situated close to the Tarvastu Order Stronghold is a chapel constructed in the early 19th century in Classicist style. What makes the building unique is its high, pyramid-like roof and porticos on all four sides resting on pairs of columns. Did you know…?*The mausoleum was ordered to be built by the local lady of the manor in memory of her husband. *In order to provide better access to the chapel, a suspension bridge was constructed across the river valley in 1878. This bridge was later gifted to the City of Viljandi and is currently in use in the centre of the city in the hilly area close to the castle ruins.