Our first stop in Estonia was at Lake Peipsi (which is so big – the fourth largest in Europe – that we couldn’t see Russia on the other side even on a clear day) All along the lake shore are small villages which are occupied in part by the “Old Believers” who broke away from the reforming Russian Orthodox Church in the C17th over some very minor changes in procedure (saying hallelujah three times instead of two, processing anticlockwise – that sort of thing) and who have a thing about the power of onions which they grow in huge amounts in impressive raised
beds.
beds.
The result is that there are some charming old churches and wooden houses along the quiet lakeshore road. No shortage of wood hereabouts and it is apparent that wood is the primary fuel judging by with huge stores of firewood outside, as you can see from the picture at the top of the page.
Many of these houses are very rustic and so particularly charming to our eyes but there were some houses which had been refurbished or even newly built and we imagined that many were summer homes. Only rarely could we catch a glimpse of the water as there are reed beds along the waters edge but with the occasional cutting into the land for launching boats. This is a charming spot and worth a visit.
Onion beds
Old Believer churches were not very impressive outside but the one we were able to enter (there were ladies doing some work inside – the others had big metal doors with stout padlocks) had a decently ornate Orthodox interior full of icons, gold leaf and turkish carpets but unfortunately no photos allowed.
Along the road and in the trees we came across big graveyards with large and well-tended family plots.
Water for the flowers came from handle-and-bucket wells. The orthodox graveyards are completely separate from the churches which usually had no graves at all in their grounds. The orthodox cross has an extra horizontal bar across it and all the old graves had such a cross. Newer graves had marble headstones with photos of the deceased upon them, as seen elsewhere in europe.
Water for the flowers came from handle-and-bucket wells. The orthodox graveyards are completely separate from the churches which usually had no graves at all in their grounds. The orthodox cross has an extra horizontal bar across it and all the old graves had such a cross. Newer graves had marble headstones with photos of the deceased upon them, as seen elsewhere in europe.
Rustic well
Where we stayed
At Lake Peipsi we stayed at Willipu Guesthouse near Kalliste. A big field right next to the lake. We didn’t make much use of the facilities which are quite limited, a couple of toilets and a shower but there was free wifi and a cracking view of the lake.
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