Lake Ülemiste () is the largest of the lakes surrounding

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. Ülemiste is the main part of the Tallinn water supply system, which supplies the city with most of its drinking water. The lake is fed mostly by Kurna stream and the Pirita River, through the Vaskjala–Ülemiste canal.

Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport Tallinn Airport () is the largest international airport in Estonia. The airport is also officially called Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport (') after the former president of Estonia Lennart Meri. The airport is located southeast of the city centre ...

is located on the eastern

shore A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

of the lake and

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regularly take off and land over the lake. The airport maintains the necessary equipment ready to salvage in a short time any aircraft that crashes into the lake, as required by

International Civil Aviation Organization The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

regulations. The Tallinn Water Company, AS Tallinna Vesi, has a treatment plant on the north shore of the lake which supplies 90% of the water to the city. The remaining 10% comes from ground water wells, which are maintained as a backup in case the lake becomes contaminated. On 18 March 2010, a

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Antonov

An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twins ...

aircraft made an emergency landing on the ice of the lake, leaking about 1 ton of fuel. All of the pollution was eventually removed.Accident: Exin AN26 at Tallinn on Mar 18th 2010, gear and engine trouble
/ref> Administratively, Lake Ülemiste is part of Tallinn's central district Kesklinn, and constitutes Ülemistejärve subdistrict with its neighbouring forests. , the population of the subdistrict is 203.

Mythology and fiction

In the lake there is boulder called ''Lindakivi'' ("Linda's rock"). In Estonian mythology, it is believed to be one of the boulders Linda was supposed to carry to Kalev's grave at

Toompea Toompea (from , "Cathedral Hill") is a hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The hill has an area of and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. Toompea is part of the medieval Tallinn Old Town, a ...

, but which fell off her apron. She sat on the boulder and cried, thus creating the lake. The mythological "Ülemiste Elder" () is believed to live in the lake. If anyone should meet him, then he is believed to ask: "Is Tallinn ready yet?". If then the other person answered "yes", then he would flood the city, and so according to the myth, the necessary response is "No, there is much to be done yet".

References

External links

Official Website of Tallinna Vesi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulemiste, Lake Lakes of Estonia Landforms of Tallinn Estonian mythology