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Ă–sel
Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and northwest of the Gulf of Riga. The administrative centre of the island, and of the Saare ''maakond'' (county), is the town of Kuressaare. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, the island of Saaremaa was known in most of the world by variants of its other historical name Ösel. Etymology Saaremaa was called ''Eysýsla'' in the Icelandic sagas and other early medieval Scandinavian sources (Old Norse: , meaning "the island district"), and named in contrast with ''Aðalsýsla'' ("the great district") or the Estonian mainland. The island is called in modern Estonian and in Finnish — literally "land of the isle" or "land of the island",Toomse, Liine. "10 Estonian Islands You Should Visit." http ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saare County
Saare County ( or ''Saaremaa''; ; ; ; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It consists of Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia, and several smaller islands near it, most notably Muhu, Ruhnu, Abruka and Vilsandi. The county borders Lääne County to the east, Hiiu County to the north, and Latvia to the south. In 2022, Saare County had a population of 31,292, which was 2.4% of the population of Estonia. Municipalities The county is subdivided into Municipalities of Estonia, municipalities. There are 3 rural municipalities ( – parishes) in Saare County. Geography The largest islands of the county are Saaremaa, Muhu, Ruhnu, Abruka and Vilsandi. Arable land is and it has a mild maritime climate. The mean annual air temperature is and the mean annual precipitation is . Religion The largest number of congregations in the county are of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC) and there are 15 congregations in the county, which are administered by the EELC's Saarte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuressaare
Kuressaare () is a populated places in Estonia, town on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Municipality and the seat of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2024 was 13,185. The town is situated on the southern coast of Saaremaa island, facing the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea, and is served by the Kuressaare Airport, Roomassaare harbour, and Kuressaare yacht harbour. Names Kuressaare's historic name Arensburg (from Middle High German ''a(a)r:'' eagle, raptor) renders the Latin denotation ''arx aquilae'' for the Kuressaare Castle, city's castle. The fortress and the eagle, tetramorph symbol of Saint John the Evangelist, are also depicted on Kuressaare's coat of arms. The town, which grew around the fortress, was simultaneously known as Arensburg and Kuressaare linn; the latter name being a combination of ''Kuressaare''—an ancient name of the Saaremaa Island—and ''lin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuressaare Castle
Kuressaare Castle (; ), also Kuressaare Episcopal Castle (), is a castle in Kuressaare on Saaremaa, Saaremaa island, in western Estonia. History The earliest written record mentioning Kuressaare castle is from the 1380s, when the Teutonic Order began its construction for the bishops of Ösel-Wieck. Some sources claim that the first castle was built of wood. As the inhabitants of Saaremaa put up stiff resistance to Livonian Crusade, foreign efforts to Christianise them, the castle was undoubtedly built as part of a wider effort by the crusaders to gain control over the island. From the outset, it was a stronghold belonging to the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, bishop of Saare-Lääne () and remained one of the most important castles of the Bishopric until its dissolution during the Livonian War. In 1559, Danish Estonia, Denmark-Norway seized control over Saaremaa and Kuressaare castle. During this time, the fortifications were modernised. Following the Second Treaty of Brömsebro (1645) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 Russia. The territory of Estonia consists of the mainland, the larger islands of Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, and over 2,300 other islands and islets on the east coast of the Baltic Sea. Its capital Tallinn and Tartu are the two largest List of cities and towns in Estonia, urban areas. The Estonian language is the official language and the first language of the Estonians, majority of its population of nearly 1.4 million. Estonia is one of the least populous members of the European Union and NATO. Present-day Estonia has been inhabited since at least 9,000 BC. The Ancient Estonia#Early Middle Ages, medieval indigenous population of Estonia was one of the last pagan civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Northern Crusades in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thule
Thule ( ; also spelled as ''Thylē'') is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek and Roman literature and cartography. First written of by the Greek explorer Pytheas of Massalia (modern-day Marseille, France) in about 320 BC, it was often described by later writers as an island north of Ireland or Britain. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shetland, Northern Scotland, the Faroe Islands, and Iceland. Other potential locations are the island of Saaremaa (Ösel) in Estonia, or the Norwegian island of Smøla.Andreas Kleineberg, Christian Marx, Eberhard Knobloch und Dieter Lelgemann: ''Germania und die Insel Thule. Die Entschlüsselung von Ptolemaios' "Atlas der Oikumene".'' Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 2010. In classical and medieval literature, ''ultima Thule'' (Latin "farthest Thule") acquired a metaphorical meaning of any distant place located beyond the "borders of the known world". By the Late Middle Ages and the early modern per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salme Ships
The Salme ships are two clinker-built ships of Scandinavian origin discovered in 2008 and 2010 near the village of Salme on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. Both ships were used for ship burials around AD 700–750 in the Nordic Iron Age and contained the remains of 41 warriors killed in battle, as well as 6 dogs, 2 hunting hawks and numerous weapons and other artifacts. Discovery and excavation The first ship was discovered in 2008 during earth removal for infrastructure construction. An archaeological expedition has been working on the site since 2008. The second ship was discovered in 2010. There is some indirect evidence pointing to the possibility that at least one more ship is yet to be discovered during future excavations. Location The ships were located near the ancient coastline, about above water level. The location is from the present coastline and above present water level. Description Both Salme ships are clinker-built and archaeologists have estim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counties Of Estonia
The counties of Estonia () are the state administrative subdivisions of Estonia. Estonian territory is composed of 15 counties, including 13 on the mainland and 2 on islands. County governments () were abolished at the end of 2017, with their duties split between state authorities and local governments, and nowadays counties have no noteworthy independent competences. Counties are composed of Municipalities of Estonia, municipalities of two types: urban municipalities or towns (), and rural municipalities or parishes (), which are by law required to cooperate in development of their county. List As of 2023, the sum total of the figures in the table below is 42,644 km2, of which the land area is 42,388 km2, so that 256 km2 of water is included in the figures. History In the first centuries AD, political and administrative subdivisions began to emerge in Estonia. Two larger subdivisions appeared: the parish (kihelkond) and the county (maakond). The parish consisted of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiiumaa
Hiiumaa ( , ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 989 km2 and is 22 km from the Estonian mainland. Its largest town is Kärdla. It is located within Hiiu County. Names Administratively Hiiumaa is the "main island" of the Hiiu County, called or in Estonian. The Swedish and German name of the island is or ('Day' island) and in Danish. In modern Finnish, it is called , literally 'Hiisi's Land'. In Old Gutnish, it was ('day isthmus'), from which the local North Germanic name is derived. History Prehistory Hiiumaa emerged from the Baltic Sea 8500 years ago due to isostatic uplift after the retreat of the ice cap. Mesolithic settlements are found on the island's Kõpu Peninsula from about 5500 BC. These settlements seem to be related mostly to seal hunting and extend into the earliest Neolithic. As Hiiumaa is constantly uplifting the local sea level was 20 m higher th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archaeological
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, archaeological site, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology (in North America – the four-field approach), history or geography. The discipline involves Survey (archaeology), surveying, Archaeological excavation, excavation, and eventually Post excavation, analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research. Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
5000 BCE
The 5th millennium BC spanned the years (5000 BC – 4001 BC) (c. 7 ka to c. 6 ka), that is, inclusive of 5000 BC but exclusive of 4000 BC. It is impossible to precisely date events that happened around the time of this millennium and all dates mentioned here are estimates mostly based on geological and anthropological analysis. Communities The rapid Estimates of historical world population, world population growth of the 6th millennium BC, previous millennium, caused by the Neolithic Revolution, is believed to have slowed and become fairly stable. It has been estimated that there were around forty million people worldwide by 5000 BC, growing to 100 million by the Middle Bronze Age . Europe *The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture (''aka'' Tripolye culture) began around 4800 BC. It was centred on modern Moldova and lasted in three defined phases until . *From about 4500 BC until , a single dialect called Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European (PIE) existed as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vikings
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9–22. They also voyaged as far as the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, Greenland, and Vinland (present-day Newfoundland in Canada, North America). In their countries of origin, and some of the countries they raided and settled in, this period is popularly known as the Viking Age, and the term "Viking" also commonly includes the inhabitants of the Scandinavian homelands as a whole. The Vikings had a profound impact on the Early Middle Ages, early medieval history of Northern Europe, northern and Eastern Europe, including the political and social development of England (and the English language) and parts of France, and established the embryo of Russia in Kievan Rus'. Expert sailors and navigators of their cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
