Lake Ülemiste ( et, Ülemiste järv) is the largest of the lakes surrounding

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

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 ...

. 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 is located on the eastern

shore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...

of the lake and

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...

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 a ...

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 DHL

Antonov Antonov State Enterprise ( uk, Державне підприємство «Антонов»), formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov (Antonov ASTC) ( uk, Авіаційний науково-технічни� ...

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 Twin ...

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 Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in eccles ...

, it is believed to be one of the boulders

Linda Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake i ...

was supposed to carry to Kalev's grave at

Toompea Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...

, but which fell off her apron. She sat on the boulder and cried, thus creating the lake. The mythological "Ülemiste Elder" ( et, Ülemiste vanake) 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