Rakvere

Rakvere (Wesenberg in German, Ра́квере in Russian) is a 15,737 inhabitants town in the northern part of Estonia, 20 km far from the coast. It's the 7th largest in Estonia and the capital city in Lääne-Viru County. The town is quite linked to the composer Arvo Pärt but is also known for being home of Estonian Punk Song Festival that takes place here every 2-3 years.

How do I arrive to Rakvere?

  Rakvere is well connected with the rest of Estonia because it's located between Tallinn and Narva.

• Train: there is three daily trains to Tallinn (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes) and two to Narva (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes). The trains from Tallinn to Moscow and Saint Petersburg (Russia) stop in Rakvere too.
• Bus: there are many routes in Rakvere like 6 daily buses to Võsu (aprox. 1 hour), 19 daily buses to Tallinn (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes), 10 buses per day to Narva (aprox. 2 hours), 8 daily buses to Tartu (aprox. 3 hours) and three times every day buses to Pärnu (aprox. 3 hours 30 minutes).
• Car: having rented a car you can reach some interesting destinations from Rakvere such as Lahemaa National Park (aprox. 45 minutes), Toila (aprox. 1 hour) in Ontika Nature Reserve, Sillamäe (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes), Tallinn (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes), Narva and Tartu (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes) or Viljandi (aprox 1 hour 45 minutes).

History

First inhabitants settled around present theater hill around 3rd-5th century AD. The Danes arrived and started building in 1220, being first mentioned in the Chornicle of Henry of Livonia (1226). Nearby it took place the battle of Wesenberg between the Danish and German knights and Russians. After the king sold Danish Estonia to the Livonian Order (1346) it was built a large castle. During the Livonian War Rakvere was under Russian rule and has heavily damaged, with Sweden capturing the town in 1581 (passing for a short period of time to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, when the castle was destroyed). Rakvere was burnt down in the Great Northern War and with the capitulation of Estonia and Livonia (1710) it passed to the Russian Empire. With Estonia's first period of independence many prominent building were built, local newspapers started to emerge and the theater house was built in the 1930s (and survived WW2). Rakvere is said to be the smallest town in Europe which has a professional theater that goes back to 1882.

 

What can I visit in Rakvere?

Rakvere is a nice and relaxed town that is worth a look on the way between Tallinn and Narva. The main square, Turuplats, is quite beaufitul (despite being built during Soviert Union times).

These are Rakvere's main attractions:

• Rakvere Castle (10-18 from May to Aug; 10-16 Wed-Sun from Sep to Apr; 11€/ 9€  adults/ students): 14th century castle built by the Danes that afterwards was used by the Livonian Order, Swedish, Polish and Russians. It was damaged during a battle in between Poles and Swedes (1605) and transformed into a manor in the 17th century. Nowadays it's used as a kind of medieval times amusement park where using arcs and swords, drink beer or alchemy and cannon shows.
• Tarvas Statue: aurochs statue, 3.5 m high and 7.1 m long, by the local artist Tauno Kangro that honours the 700th anniversary of the foundation of Rakvere.
• Rakvere Oak Grove: oak and lime forest close to the castle's hill considered a wonderful place to have a walk. It's supposed to have been a sacred forest for pagans and it has been cut down several times, the last one in the 19th century. The forest has a small German Military Cementery and Okaskroon, a monument to conmemorate the deportation of some locals to Siberia during the Soviet times.
• Rakvere Citizen's Museum (10-16 Tue-Sun; 5€/ 4€  entrance from May to Aug/ entrance from Sep to Apr): museum located in a 18th century house with a collection of shoes, another one of toys and an exposition about Arvo Pärt, Estonian composer of classical and religious music (inventing his own style, tintinnabuli) considered one of the most performed living composer in the world. It also shows how life was in the 1930s.
• Kolmainu Lutheran Church (10-18 Mon-Sat, 10-12:30 from Jun to Aug): church first built in the 15th century, having suffered several modifications since then. It has a 62 m high bell tower, a pulpit from 1690 and some impressing paintings. Every year there are concerts in Arvo Pärt's honour. 
• Estonian Police Museum (10-18 Tue-Sun from Jul to Aug; 10-16 Tue-Sun from Sep to Jun; 8€/ 6€  adults/ reduced): interactive museum that show the visitors about the daily work of police. The visitor can check its reaction behind the wheel of a car, take fingerprints or look at a forensic laboratory. It's specially recommended for kids.
  
• Jumalaema Sündimise Russian Orthodox Church (10-16): cute 19th century church which formely was a house when tsar Nicholas I bought it in 1839 to provide a worship place for Rakvere local Orthodox community. Some pilgrims come here to view the relics of St. Sergius, a local priest shot by communist in 1918 and now a martyr.

Tarvas statue

Kolmainu Lutheran Church

Oru Park at Ontika Nature Reserve

In the way from Rakvere to Narva, 20 km from Sillamäe, it can be found Toila (849 inhabitants), a resort village with some spas. It's the nearest village to Ontika Nature Reserve, a reserve created to protect a section of the limestone escarpment known as the Baltic Klint, where the land falls suddenly into the sea, forming cliffs up to 54 m high (whose extention is 1200 km from Sweden to Lake Ladoga in Russia, although 500km of this lies underwater). Within the reserve it can be observed Valaste Waterfall, highest waterfall in Estonia (between 26-30 m high) or visit Oru Park. This park is one of the most enjoyable ones in Estonia despite it used to have a 1899 castle (built by a rich bussinessman, Grigory Yeliseyev, from St. Peterburg and that became in 1935 the summer residence of the President of Estonia) which was destroyed during WW2. The park has all, from a beach, paths to have a walk, French-style gardens, an observation deck to a WW2 cementery.

Where can I eat in Rakvere?

Rakvere has some cute restaurants where trying local food such as Art Cafe (Lai 13) or Villa Theresa (Tammiku 13). Rakvere has one of the best sauna and spa complex in Estonia, Aqva Hotel & Spa (Parkali 4).

Posted in: Estonia,Europe