[1/2] Saaremaa is Estonia’s largest island, reached via an artificial causeway from Muhu. Although Karja kirik | Karja Church (📷1) was closed, the churchyard contains three trapezoidal gravestones c. 13–14th C.—among the oldest surviving sculptural works in Estonian history and reflecting integration between heathen and Christian beliefs. We stopped briefly at Angla tuulikumägi | Angla Windmills for a photo (📷2) but drove onward to the meteorite crater at Kaali. This is the primary impact site from a strike (up to 80 tonnes/ 6m diameter) that fractured thick layers of Silurian dolomite thousands of years ago, which preserved the crater shape and its surrounding debris mound; it’s now partially filled with a lake (📷3). On to Kuressaare, Estonia’s westernmost town, where we noted a pair of nicely restored villas (📷4). These are former nobleman’s houses, built 1890 and 1908, located on a small island (technically a 17th C. ravelin, part of a fortress’s defence against artillery fire); one is private and the other a hotel.
🇪🇪 #europe #baltics #estonia #eesti 🚀 #travel 🚐 #camperVan #nomad #roadTrip #vanLife