Narva-Jõesuu (; russian: Усть-Нарва, ''Ust'-Narva'', Нарва-Йыэсуу, Усть-Нарова) is a town in Ida-Viru County, in northeastern

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 ...

Geography

It is located on the country's northern Baltic coast of the Gulf of Finland. The town's name in Estonian and Russian means "Mouth of the

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county, at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia international border. With 54 ...

", the river which forms the border with

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Narva-Jõesuu has a population of 2,602 (as of 1 January 2010). As in the nearby city of

, most residents today are

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

or Russian-speaking, although the percentage of native

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to oth ...

is slightly higher in Narva-Jõesuu (13% compared to 4% in Narva). Narva-Jõesuu marks the northeastern terminus of the E9 European Coastal Path, which runs for 5000 km (3125 miles) from

Cabo de São Vicente Cape St. Vincent ( pt, Cabo de São Vicente, ) is a headland in the municipality of Vila do Bispo, in the Algarve, southern Portugal. It is the southwesternmost point of Portugal and of mainland Europe. History Cape St. Vincent was already sac ...

in Portugal.

History

The settlement probably arose in the 14th century, then part of the Duchy of Estonia, a dominion of the Livonian Order within

Terra Mariana Terra Mariana (Medieval Latin for "Land of Mary") was the official name for Medieval Livonia or Old Livonia ( nds, Oolt-Livland, liv, Jemā-Līvõmō, et, Vana-Liivimaa, lv, Livonija). It was formed in the aftermath of the Livonian Crusade ...

from 1346. It was first documented in a 1503 deed issued by Master of the Order Wolter von Plettenberg and was the site of an outer harbour of the City of Narva from the 16th century, containing several timber stockyards, sawmills, and small shipbuilding industry. The German name ''Hungerburg'' allegedly goes back to the Russian emperor Peter the Great, who noticed the great poverty of the rural population during the 1704 Battle of Narva. The Narva-Jõesuu Lighthouse was erected in 1808.

Tourism

Thanks to its -long white sand beach lined with pine trees – considered one of the finest in

– Narva-Jõesuu has long been a popular summer destination. In the late 19th and early 20th century it was a

spa town A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. He ...

frequented by the nobility from

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, which is less than to the east, and from

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. During the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

period, it was visited in large numbers by residents of the renamed Leningrad, particularly the Russian intelligentsia, many of whom have bought

dacha A dacha ( rus, дача, p=ˈdatɕə, a=ru-dacha.ogg) is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of post-Soviet countries, including Russia. A cottage (, ') or shack serving as a family's main or only home, or an outbu ...

s (summer houses) in Narva-Jõesuu or on the outskirts. In the first ten to fifteen years after the restoration of Estonia's independence, Narva-Jõesuu saw few visitors; thus, a large number of hotels and guest houses closed their doors and went out of business. In the last few years, its resort facilities have been renovated, and the number of tourists has been rising. However, the number of hotels is still considerably lower compared to the late 1980s. Near Narva-Jõesuu, southwest from the town border lies the Narva-Jõesuu nudist beach, the only official nudist beach in Estonia.

Gallery

File:Narva-joesuu kuursaal.jpg, Ruins of Narva-Jõesuu kuursaal (''resort hall''). File:EU-EE-IV-Narva-Jõesuu-Russia-Estonia board.JPG, Pier in the mouth of

Narva River The river Narva ( et, Narva jõgi; russian: Нарва), formerly also Narova flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer interme ...

. File:Ust-Narva-13.jpg, Narva-Jõesuu Lighthouse File:Ust-Narva-2.jpg,

References

External links

Narva-Jõesuu Nude Beach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narva-Joesuu Cities and towns in Estonia Populated places in Ida-Viru County Spa towns in Estonia