Excursion to the resort town of Haapsalu

There are towns to which you want to return again and again, in which time has frozen on a certain era. Such a town stands in the west of Estonia, 110 km from Tallinn and is called Haapsalu (formerly called Gapsal) - a popular resort of Russian nobility of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. It is also called the Venice of the North.

This city was visited by Peter 1, Alexander 11, Alexander 111 and Nicholas 11 with their families, Matilda Kshesinskaya rested in it, Nicholas Roerich and P. I. Tchaikovsky worked, Nikolai Pirogov worked, Alexander Gorchakov was born in Haapsalu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and classmate of Pushkin.

On the way to Haapsalu we will visit a number of wonderful places "Gorku Hamlet", the estate of A. H. Benkendorf "Fall" near the waterfall Keila Joa and the ruins of the former Cistercian monastery Padize.

In the morning we leave Tallinn and head west. Along the way, we will make a short stop on the rocky cliff of Rannamyza, where the film Hamlet was once filmed, and admire the wonderful view of the place where the Gulf of Finland ends and the Great Baltic begins. Our next stop is in the restored estate "Fall", which since 1827 belonged to Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf. Nicholas 1 once said, “I can be replaced in Russia, but no one can replace Benkendorf.” The Lord’s House stands near the beautiful 6-meter waterfall of Keila Yoa. We will walk through the count’s park and walk over a bridge built on the site of a bridge erected by Benkendorf’s adjutant, military engineer Alexei Lvov, author of the hymn “God Save the Tsar”. Next, we will pass through the town of Keila past the Vasalema Castle, where the film “The Secret of the Blackbirds” was filmed, and inspect the ruins of the Cistercian monastery “Padise” of the 13th century.

Finally, Haapsalu is a quiet town with a population of 10,000 inhabitants and a rich history. The city still has a 13th century episcopal castle, which now houses an interesting museum. It is here that the most famous ghost in Estonia, the symbol of eternal love, the White Lady, lives. You can see it once a year on the first full moon of August in the window of the chapel attached to the Dome Church of the castle. These days, Haapsalu hosts the White Lady Festival.

From the Episcopal Castle we will go to the shore of the bay, walk through the old city, similar to the scenery for a silent film of the late 19th century, on the way you can buy the famous Haasalu shawl, in which noble ladies wrapped themselves in cool evenings. Then we will walk along the sea along the promenade, have lunch in the luxurious wooden Kurzal built in the late 19th century with a view of the sea, a favorite resting place of Russian crowned persons and aristocracy and reach P. I. Tchaikovsky’s favorite bench. In the early 19th century, local county doctor Karl Abraham Hunnius investigated the healing properties of mud mined in Haapsalu Bay, and in 1825, on his initiative, the first mud clinic was built here. There are 2 sanatoriums in the city now.

We will also visit the railway station, built to receive the royal train with a covered apron 126 meters long. If you wish, you can visit the Russian Railway Museum.

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