Even in a nation where people still leave offerings in sacred groves, Orissaare's most famous landmark is, well, a little weird. Winner of the 2015 European Tree of the Year award, this 150-year-old oak stands right in the middle of a football field. The field was laid out around the oak in 1951 and when tractors came to remove the tree, the tree won the battle (although it still bears the scars). Players simply kick around it.
Orissaare Oak
Western Estonia & the Islands
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The German knights built this castle, 4km north of Orissaare, during the 14th to 16th centuries and using the forced labour of the conquered locals. It…
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Local craft and artworks adorn the walls and shelves of this meticulously restored thatched longhouse in Koguva.
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Pöide, 3km south of the main highway, was the Saaremaa headquarters of the German Knights of the Sword and this fortress-church, built in the 13th and…
7. St Catherine's Lutheran Church, Karja
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The pagan and Christian meet in this fortress-like 14th-century church. Outside there’s an interesting panel about pre-Christian symbols with particular…
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Charge up those camera batteries: this is the site of the largest and most photogenic grouping of wooden windmills on the islands. By the early 16th…