Mustvee is a town in

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 ...

. It lies on the west coast of Lake Peipus, and is administratively part of the Mustvee Parish in

Jõgeva County Jõgeva County ( or ''Jõgevamaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in eastern part of the country and borders Ida-Viru County to the north-east, Lake Peipus to the east, Tartu County to the south, Viljandi County to the south-we ...

. Ethnic

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

and

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

both make up around half of its current population of approximately 1,600.

History

The name of ''Mustvee'' was first recorded in 1343, at the time when the region was part of the State of the Teutonic Order. The beginning of continuous ethnic Russian settlement in what is now Estonia dates back to the late 17th century when several thousand

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...

, escaping religious persecution in Russia (after the Tsardom of Muscovy had declared them outlaws in 1658) settled in Mustvee and other safe haven areas then ruled by Kingdom of Sweden on the west coast of Lake Peipus. Mustvee has held fairs for the past two centuries. Due to its position at the broadest part of the lake, this traditional fishing town is increasingly popular as a tourist centre. The new was opened on 18 December 2014.

Demographics

Climate

Mayors of Mustvee

Gallery

Mustvee kultuurkeskus.jpg, Mustvee house of culture Mustvee city halla.jpg, Mustvee town hall Mustvee, Peipsi rand.jpg, Mustvee, Peipsi rand LakePeipus01.JPG, Harbor at Mustvee, on the coast of Lake Peipus. Mustvee kirik.JPG, Mustvee church Early road to Lake Peipus.jpg, Bridge over port on the shore of Lake Peipus Mustvee bussijaam2.jpg, Mustvee bus station Kirche Mustvee.jpg, The Holy Trinity Unitarian Church in Mustvee

References

External links

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Estonia Former municipalities of Estonia Populated places in Jõgeva County Old Believer communities Russians in Estonia Kreis Dorpat