A Banksy in Viljandi?

Day 82 

Having not seen Parnu’s historic town the previous day we took an early morning bike ride into the city centre to check it out.  

It was just after 9am and the town was dead, with the only signs of life being staff from a few restaurants and cafes that were setting up for the day.  All other shops were closed, displaying signs that they opened at 10am (what operating hours)! Nonetheless we admired the wooden buildings and main street then rode out to the beach.

Morning ride through one of the many Parnu parks.

"Oh...looks like Collingwood won again did they?"

Early Morning mono in front of the Parnu Gate.

Which bastard stole my E?

On the ride out to the beach I had yet another puncture, which forced us to turn around and head back to the van. With no wheels, we thought we would give the beach a miss and head to the town of Viljandi, home to Estonia’s largest bog and flood plain – what an amazing blurb to pull the tourists in!

The Tourist Information Centre provided us with all the necessary information to do a thorough self-guided tour around town.   We started at the tourist office and followed a trail leading past a church dating back to 1464.

The people of Viljandi have made great use of the church over the years, with it first being used as monastery until it burnt down in the Livonian war. It was then used as a warehouse during Soviet times and today it now functions as a Concert Hall.  

We passed a few monuments dedicated to Soviet victims and important town folk, and noted that with all monuments we have seen in Estonia thus far  they have all been erected roughly within the last 10 years – I guess as they got their independence an ability to honor their own people and not the Russians. 

Still trying to work out if this is a Banksy in Viljandi. If it is, old Banksy travelled as much as Jesus did to spread his word.

The suspension bridge leading to the Viljandi Castle.

Not a bad place for an open air performance. Thanks for your Swan Lake rendition Claire.

A very underrated town - Viljandi.

One of the converted churches - now being used as a concert hall.

Claire roaming the streets again.....

The Viljandi Watchtower.

Steps leading down to Lake Viljandi -
some very good steps and railings (on one side).

A suspension bridge took us over to the medieval ‘Order Castle’, which has been subject to many wars over the years and now lies in ruins. As ruins go though, it was really quite good and today they use it as an open-air theatre or for folk festivals. 

Old town seemed pleasant as we strolled through it on our way down the hill to Viljandi Lake.  There was a plethora of activities by the lake – including tennis and basketball courts, athletics track, beach volleyball, rowing and much more.  According to the town information leaflet it states that they have 53 different sport clubs for a population of 19,000!

Viljandi actually holds an annual international running race around the lake, which had been dominated by a local Estonia man in the 1920’s by the name of Hubert Parnakivi, who won it consecutively on 11 occasions. He now has a statue erected of him near the lake and each winner of the event gets his or her name emblazoned on a huge concrete slab just across from him. Looking at the photo they have of Hubert running through the forest and his massive quads, you can see why he took the prize so many times.

We climbed back up the hill and circled back around to the van via the newer part of town.  Satisfied that we had absorbed what the lovely town of Viljandi had to offer we drove onto Estonia’s second largest city of Tartu.  

On arriving into Tartu we wished we had stayed in Viljandi. On initial inspection Tartu seemed dirty, dodgy and rough.  We had stopped in a small car park opposite an array of decaying concrete buildings that looked rather third world and thought twice.  We jumped back in Maxi and moved 1km or so up the road on the river and paid for parking that had a much safer feel. 

In later reading, we had actually found that the area we had parked just minutes before was once considered one of the poorest neighborhoods in Europe and was now going through redevelopment. We know how to pick them!

It was a short walk into old town and our first impressions were quickly changed, as Tartu hosted a lovely town square that was dominated by the Town Hall and fronted by a statue of lovers kissing under an umbrella. 

The Tartu Town Hall 

Young Lovers under the Umbrella.

Big shoes to fill.

St Johns Church was another notable building, built of brick and housed terracotta sculptures in niches around the main portal.  We began to develop a hunger while walking around town so retreated back to Maxi for dinner just as it was getting dark.  

St Johns Church with a whole lot of terracotta sculptures and heads - the most in Europe apparently.