The resort of Haapsalu, a slightly faded but atmospheric town of wooden villas with lacy carved trimmings, rose to fame with the discovery of curative mud in the early 19th century. The city was so popular with the Tsars that a 216-m train platform was built to welcome Russia’s royals. Tchaikovsky also favoured this peaceful place and a memorial bench looking out to sea remembers his presence. An important ecclesiastical stronghold in the 13th century, Haapsalu remained the seat of power for the Saare-Lääne Bishopric until it fell to the Swedes during the Livonian War. During the Northern War, the castle was reduced to ruins, which were transformed into a romantic castle park in the 19th century. Many of the Swedes who settled here fled across the Baltic to Sweden during the 2nd World War. The Cathedral of St Nicholas was reopened for services in 1990, having narrowly escaped being turned into a swimming pool by the Soviets. SightsCastle ruins Lossi plats. The rough stone ruins of the medieval fortress, with red-tiled roofs and skeletal window silhouettes framing patches of sky, are set in parkland and provide the backdrop for August’s White Lady Days (Valge Daami Paevad) when a ghostly white apparition can be seen in the window of the cathedral’s baptismal chapel at full moon. According to legend, this is the ghost of a young woman beloved by a canon who smuggled her into the religious community. When discovered, she was walled up and left to die; the canon was imprisoned and starved to death. Every year, an open-air play re-enacts this sorry tale. If you get a kick out of weapons, pop into the Museum and Watchtower of the Episcopal Castle (May-Sep Tue-Sun 1000-1800, 10 EEK for watchtower, 15 EEK for castle, children half price) where the collection includes a dolomite mould for casting cannonballs. Otherwise, head straight for the watchtower and its wide-angle views of land and sea. There’s a tourist information kiosk just outside the castle by the car park. Cathedral of St Nicholas Nigula 49, Taebla vald, T 479 6658. Tue-Fri 1000-1400, service Sun 1200. Rebuilt in the19th century, then left to decay for decades after the 2nd World War, St Nicholas celebrated its first religious service in the nascent Estonia in 1990. Stark and white inside, it’s a calm, contemplative space with an altar donated by a local doctor whose mother was deported to, and died in, Siberia. In the circular baptismal chapel, completed in the 15th century, you can see a modest box containing Siberian earth, a memorial to Estonian mothers killed during the Soviet occupation. Läänemaa Muuseum (Läänemaa Museum) Kooli 2, T 047 37065, http://www.muuseum.haapsalu.ee. Wed-Sun 1000-1800. 15 EEK. Visiting local history museums in Estonia can be a poignant experience, as you realize what the place looked like before the Soviet planners got their teeth into it. Here you’ll find photographs of elegant pre-war Haapsalu, when a Mickey Mouse statue graced the promenade, and an engaging assortment of exhibits from earlier days, including reconstructed peasant dwelling and a coin from the time of Richard the Lionheart. Kuursaal Promenaadi 1, T 047 35505, http://www.kuursaal.ee. May-Sep daily 1000-0200. On first glance, this wondrous wooden entertainment hall appears to be floating in the sea. A warehouse during the Soviet era, it has been renovated and turned into a restaurant and concert venue. Seaside walk and Tchaikovsky’s Bench Follow the seaside walk north from the Kuursaal, past reeds, gliding swans and diving ducks, and you will come to a stone bench beside a flower bed, erected in 1940 in honour of Tchaikovsky, who summered here in 1867. A few bars of the composer’s sixth symphony are inscribed onto the seat. Press a button and the bench blasts out Tchaikovsky’s most popular pieces, incuding Swan Lake. Tacky but strangely satisfying. Estonian Railway Museum Raudtee 2, T 047 34574, http://www.jaam.ee. Thu-Sun 1000-1800. 15 EEK. Haapsalu’s long, low-slung railway station is a wonderfully elaborate cream-and-brown wooden building that has featured in a host of films. Original tiles and mosaics have been preserved in the entrance hall, giving an atmospheric, Anna Karenina feel. In fact, the only thing that’s missing is a train service: the Haapsalu line was closed in 1995 and the station is used for buses instead. Around the back, which is still faded and peeling, you can visit that 216-m railway platform, one of imperial Russia’s longest (the idea was that the Tsar and his retinue would not be inconvenienced by the weather) and run the rule over several old locomotives. Vormsi Island A 45-minute ferry trip (T 047 32308) from Rohuküla Harbour, 10 km west of Haapsalu, schedule changes seasonally, see http://www.laevakompanii.ee for details. 30 EEK return, 110 EEK cars return concessions available. This gently undulating island, coated with wooded meadows, forest and junipers, is home to just 340 people. It used to be a little more crowded: Haapsalu’s substantial Swedish community fled before the Soviet takeover in 1944, although their legacy can be felt in the village names and the elaborate porches of the villas and cottages. Hullo, in the centre, has an old forest cemetery with Swedish-style circular crosses, some crumbling, others half swallowed by the earth. The loveliest spot is Rumpo Peninsula, where a remote path takes you seawards through a nature reserve of wild flowers, thistles and tufty junipers, alive with butterflies and dragonflies. For bike rental on Vormsi, T 051 787 22. Matsalu Nature Reserve Information Centre, Penijõe Manor House, Penijõe, near Lihula, T 047 24 2220, http://www.hot.ee/matsalu. The remote coastal region of Matsalu, 130 km southwest of Tallinn, is the largest nesting place for migrant sea birds in the Baltic region and a bird sanctuary of international importance. There are five observation towers, including the Haeska tower, which Finnish ornithologists say is one of the best in northern Europe. The best time to visit is in April and May (serious bird-watchers should telephone in advance to make sure the towers are open).Whether or not you spot birds, it’s worth coming here for the wild, windswept terrain, with its islets, forests, juniper pastures and dreamy sea views. The Kasari flood plain is one of Europe’s largest surviving open alluvial meadows. Matsalu is also home to 2500-year-old burial mounds, tangy old fishing villages and Estonia’s largest snail. Hikers should pick up the ‘Hiking Around Matsalu’ brochure from the information centre. For further information about birds, check out the Estonian Ornithological Society website http://www.eoy.ee.
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