Otepää (formerly Nuustaku) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Valga County Valga County ( et, Valga maakond or ''Valgamaa'') is a first-level administrative unit and one of 15 counties of Estonia. It comprises the former area of Valga District. The present-day county was created on 1 January 1990. The capital and lar ...

, southern

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

, it is the administrative centre of

Otepää Parish Otepää Parish ( et, Otepää vald) is a rural municipality in Valga County, southern Estonia. It includes the town of Otepää. Settlements ;Town Otepää ;Small boroughs Puka - Sangaste ;Villages Ädu - Arula- Ilmjärve - Kääriku - ...

. Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer capital"

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet ...

). During the 2005–2006 season it became the site for

FIS Cross-Country World Cup The FIS Cross-Country World Cup is an annual cross-country skiing competition, arranged by the International Ski Federation (FIS) since 1981. The competition was arranged unofficially between 1973 and 1981, although it received provisional recogn ...

events. The name "Otepää" means "Ott's Head" in

South Estonian South Estonian, spoken in south-eastern Estonia, encompasses the Tartu, Mulgi, Võro and Seto varieties. There is no academic consensus on its status, as some linguists consider South Estonian a dialect group of Estonian whereas other linguist ...

, where ''ott'' is an euphemism for "bear".

History

The first settlement in Otepää was in 6th century BC. It has been inhabited continuously since the 6th-7th centuries. Otepää was historically important as the site of a viking hill fort and medieval castle. The fortress was first mentioned in Russian sources in 1116 when the princes of Novgorod and Pskov undertook a expedition against Tartu and Otepää. The conquest of Estonia during the

Northern Crusades The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were Christian colonization and Christianization campaigns undertaken by Catholic Christian military orders and kingdoms, primarily against the pagan Baltic, Finnic and West Slavic peoples around th ...

began with an attack on the fortress at Otepää in 1208. The fort was attacked again in 1217, when Christianized southern Estonians stopped the

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

advances. The fort at Otepää was finally conquered in 1224 by German crusaders.

Hermann of Dorpat Hermann of Dorpat (or Hermann I, or Hermann von Buxhövden) (1163–1248) was the first Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Dorpat (1224–1248) within the Livonian Confederation. Biography Hermann hailed from Bexhövede (now a part of Loxs ...

, the first Prince-Bishop of the Bishopric of Dorpat (1224–1248) within the Livonian Confederation, built an episcopal castle at Otepää, which was the first stone fortress built in Estonia. During the 14th century the importance of Otepää waned as Tartu, which was the seat of the Bishopric, grew in importance. The castle at Otepää was destroyed, but there is no written evidence of when the castle was abandoned. Archaeologist have argued that the castle was inhabited as late as 1477. But it is more commonly believed that the castle was razed by the Livonian Order in 1396 during a conflict with the

Bishopric of Dorpat The Bishopric of Dorpat ( et, Tartu piiskopkond; nds, Bisdom Dorpat; la, Ecclesia Tarbatensis) was a medieval prince-bishopric, i.e. both a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and a temporal principality ruled by the bishop of the diocese. I ...

. The earliest surviving firearm in Europe has been found in the castle of Otepää and it dates to at least 1396. In 1862, the settlement was named Nuustaku and granted town privileges. In 1876, Tartu Estonian Farmers' Society and Estonian Farmer's Society held the first agricultural fair at Nuustaku church manor. On June 4, 1884 the flag that was to become the national

flag of Estonia The flag of Estonia ( et, Eesti lipp) is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the (). The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol of ...

was dedicated in the Nuustaku Church as the flag of the

Estonian Students' Society The Estonian Students' Society ( et, Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts; commonly used acronym: EÜS) is the largest and oldest all-male academical student society in Estonia, and is similar to the Baltic German student organizations known as corporat ...

. The name Nuustaku was changed to Otepää in 1922. Otepää became a town in 1936.

Geography

Otepää is situated in a landscape known as the

Otepää Upland Otepää Upland ( et, Otepää kõrgustik) is hilly area of higher elevation in Southern Estonia. Upland's area is about 1200 km2. The highest point of upland is Kuutsemägi (217 m). Part of upland is taken under protection (Otepää Nature ...

. The area is hilly and contains numerous lakes, including Lake

Pühajärv Pühajärv ("Holy lake") is a lake in Estonia, near the town of Otepää. The Väike Emajõgi river flows out of the lake. See also *List of lakes of Estonia ''This is a list of lakes (including reservoirs) in Estonia.'' Largest lakes All ...

Demographics

Government and Politics

Otepää's municipal status was briefly restored in 1989 when the local government re-emerged in Estonia. In 1999, Otepää City was merged with the Pühajärve rural municipality, which became known as the Otepää Rural Municipality.

is the local government administrative unit that governs Otepää City.

Gallery

File:Otepää kirik 2012.jpg, Otepää St. Mary's Church File:Otepää Piiskopilinnuse varemed.JPG, Ruins of Otepää Bishop castle File:Pühajärv lake 2008.jpg, The beach of Lake

in Otepää. File:Statue of Estonian War of Independence in Otepää 1.jpg, Monument of

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...

File:Tehvandi-Suusastaadion-2011-jaanuar.jpg, Tehvandi skiing stadium File:Tehvandi cropped.jpg, Tehvandi ski jumping hill File:Kristina Šmigun 2007.jpg,

2006–07 FIS Cross-Country World Cup The 2006–07 FIS Cross-Country World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a season for cross-country skiers. It was the 26th official World Cup season in cross-country skiing for men and ladies. The season began on 28 October 2006 with 800m spri ...

Kristina Šmigun Kristina may refer to: Places *the Swedish name of Ristiina, a town in Finland People *the Swedish name of Christina of Sweden * Kristina (born 1987), Slovak singer *Kristina Adolphson (born 1937), Swedish actress *Kristina Apgar (born 1985), Amer ...

in the focus. File:Otepää kultuurimaja.JPG, Otepää House of Culture File:Otepää - wmee-125.jpg, Otepää rectory and flag museum

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Otepaa Cities and towns in Estonia Ski areas and resorts in Estonia Castles of the Teutonic Knights Former municipalities of Estonia Kreis Dorpat