Saaremaa
This article is about the island. For the county, see Saare County.Saaremaa (
Swedish,
German Ösel, or
Oesel,
Latin Osilia) is the largest
island (2673 km²) belonging to
Estonia. It is located in the
Baltic Sea, south of
Hiiumaa island, and belongs to the west Estonian
archipelago. The capital of Saaremaa is
Kuressaare, which has about 16,000 inhabitants; the whole island has about 40,000 inhabitants.
Saaremaa is the main island of
Saare County, called
Saaremaa or
Saare maakond in
Estonian. The
Swedish and
German name of the island is
Ösel, while in
Finnish it is called
Saarenmaa - literally isle's land.
Main article: History of Estonia
According to archeological finds, the territory of Saaremaa has been inhabited for at least five thousand years. In old Scandinavian sagas, Saaremaa is called
Eysysla which means exactly the same as the name of the island in Estonian:
the district (land) of island. This is the origin of the island's name in German and Swedish,
Ösel, and in Latin
Osilia. The name
Eysysla appears sometimes together with
Adalsysla, 'the big land', perhaps 'Suuremaa' or 'Suur Maa' in Estonian which refers to mainland Estonia. Sagas talk about numerous skirmishes between islanders and vikings. Saaremaa was the wealthiest county of ancient Estonia and the home of notorious Estonian pirates, sometimes called the Eastern Vikings. The Chronicle of
Henry of Livonia describes a fleet of sixteen ships and five hundred Osilians ravaging the area that is now southern Sweden, then belonging to Denmark.In
1227 Saaremaa was conquered by the
Livonian Order, but remained a hotbed of Estonian resistance. When the Order was defeated by the
Lithuanian army in
1236, Saaremaa islanders rebelled. The conflict was ended by a treaty that was signed by the Osilians and the Master of the Order.
Part of Saaremaa was ruled directly by the Order, while another part was ruled by the semi-independent
Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek. On
15 April 1560 the bishopric and Saaremaa were sold by the last prince-bishop to
Denmark.
In
1645, Saaremaa was ceded from Denmark to
Sweden by the
Treaty of Brömsebro. In
1721, along with the rest of
Swedish Estonia, Saaremaa (then known by its Swedish name of Ösel) was ceded to
Imperial Russia by the
Treaty of Nystad, becoming a part of the
Russian governorate-general of Estonia.
In the 20th century, Saaremaa was twice occupied by German forces. In
World War I, the Estonian islands were conquered in October 1917 and occupied (
Operation Albion) until the end of hostilities.
Estonia became independent after the
October Revolution and the collapse of
Imperial Russia. The new state was pressured into
incorporation into the
USSR in June
1940, as a result of the
Molotovâ€"Ribbentrop Nonaggression Pact. The Germans once again occupied the islands in 1941 (
Operation Beowulf) and remained there until expelled by the
Red Army in November 1944.
Estonian independence was regained on
August 20,
1991 in the
collapse of the Soviet UnionIt is possible to reach Saaremaa by
ferry from
Virtsu on the Estonian mainland to
Muhu island, which is itself connected to Saaremaa via a
causeway. Saaremaa can also be reached using a ferry from
Sõru on the island of
Hiiumaa.
It is also possible to reach Saaremaa by ferry from
Ventspils in
Latvia. This service started in 2005 and is run by
SSC Ferries.
There are regular bus services from
Tallinn,
Pärnu and
Tartu on the mainland.
It is possible to fly from Kuressaare to Tallinn, and there are also seasonal flights to Pärnu and Stockholm.
Plans to connect Saaremaa to the mainland either by bridge or tunnel are being studied. The project will cost at least 175 million euros and will be ready no sooner than 2014.
*
List of islands of Estonia*
List of islands in the Baltic Sea*
Kaali crater*
Saare County*
Saaremaa*
Avies fly daily between Tallinn and Kuressaare
*
Neomobile provide local bus services across the island
fiu-vro:Saarõmaa
