The Vanamõisa nature and cultural history hiking trail

Starting point 1

The Vanamõisa nature and cultural history hiking trail

Dear traveler!

It is wonderful that you have made it here, to the lands of Vanamõisa village of the Saue Rural Municipality. Did you know that there are altogether eight locations called Vanamõisa all over Estonia? The village of Vanamõisa in Harju County, formerly in the territory of Keila parish, originally named Kerguta (Kircotœu, Kircota), was first mentioned in the Great List of Estonia of the Danish Census Book in the 13th century.

The hiking trail mainly winds along forest paths, just 20 km from the hustle and bustle of the capital city and 1 km from the Saue train station, and offers you a relaxing break for enjoying nature, listening to birds, recognizing animal footprints, capturing the beauty of nature or taking a vigorous health walk. And this is accompanied by lots of stories. Stories of nature, history, people, everything that is close to and important to the people of the region during its almost 800 years of development.

On the path you will reach the large stone where village children of the previous generations have loved to play, you can walk along a century-old cattle trail, flush your eyes with the curative water of the Sõeru sacrificial spring, as well as see the fortifications of the Peter the Great’s Naval Fortress built in the early 20th century. You will see, where the borders of the three old former mansions met, you will be able to hear our passerines sing, and you will be able to guess based on the footprints whether it was a moose, a roe deer, a lynx, a fox or a wild boar that had been here before you.

You have the choice between the paths of two lengths. The longer one is 6.5 km; the shorter one is 4 km. You can pass the selected journey with one stroke, stopping just to read the stories, but you can also take time off every now and then, watch and capture the beauty of nature, enjoy lying on a bench, closing your eyes and listening to the silence and the chorus of the birds. Or imagine the distant times we will be telling you about during your journey.

If at the beginning of the path, behind the fence of the adjacent loudly humming factory, you may wonder what silence we are talking about, then notice that every step into the depths of the forest is indeed increasingly quieter and quieter. And at one point you will find yourself in the middle of the sounds of nature. Or in silence.

Your location on the map is marked with a red dot. Please protect nature – bring back everything you take into the forest. The hiking trail runs largely on private land, so just walk on the trail and don’t take anything with you from the forest. All pets must be on a leash, the owner must ensure the safety of other trail users. It is forbidden to drive on the trail with any motor vehicle. It is also forbidden to ride a horse on the trail.

The hiking trail is managed by MTÜ Vanamõisa küla. The construction of the hiking trail has been done on a voluntary basis. 200 m of the trail has been built by the Saue Municipal Government, and 415 m has been built with the support of the European Union and with the support of the Saue Municipal Government. The rest of the trail has been built by MTÜ Vanamõisa küla with the help of private investors. The texts of the hiking trail were written by Evelin Povel.

All visitors have the opportunity to contribute to the further construction and establishment of the trail. All benevolent visitors are welcome to join the Facebook group “Vanamõisa matkarada”. This site provides more detailed information about the birth of the trail to the present day. We also welcome any feedback and information at e-mail address matkarada@kodukyla.ee.

Have a nice hike!

Starting point 2 (Ojakalda tee)

The Vanamõisa nature and cultural history hiking trail

Dear traveler! It is wonderful that you have made it here, to the lands of Vanamõisa village of the Saue Rural Municipality. Did you know that there are altogether eight locations called Vanamõisa all over Estonia? The village of Vanamõisa in Harju County, formerly in the territory of Keila parish, originally named Kerguta (Kircotœu, Kircota), was first mentioned in the Great List of Estonia of the Danish Census Book in the 13th century.

The hiking trail mainly winds along forest paths, just 20 km from the hustle and bustle of the capital city and 1 km from the Saue train station, and offers you a relaxing break for enjoying nature, listening to birds, recognizing animal footprints, capturing the beauty of nature or a vigorous health walk. And this is accompanied by lots of stories. Stories of nature, history, people, everything that is close to and important to the people of the region during its almost 800 years of development.

On the path you will reach the large stone where village children of the previous generations have loved to play, you can walk along a century-old cattle trail, flush your eyes with the curative water of the Sõeru sacrificial spring, as well as see the fortifications of the Peter the Great’s Naval Fortress built in the early 20th century. You will see, where the borders of the three old former mansions met, you will be able to hear our passerines sing, and you will be able to guess based on the footprints whether it was a moose, a roe deer, a lynx, a fox or a wild boar that had been here before you.

Notice that every step into the depths of the forest is increasingly quieter and quieter. And at one point you will find yourself in the middle of the sounds of nature. Or in silence.

Your location on the map is marked with a red dot. Please protect nature – bring back everything you take into the forest. The hiking trail runs on a lot on private land, so just walk on the trail and don’t take anything with you from the forest. All pets must be on a leash, the owner must ensure the safety of other trail users. It is forbidden to drive on the trail with any motor vehicle. It is also forbidden to ride a horse on the trail.

The hiking trail is managed by MTÜ Vanamõisa küla. The construction of the hiking trail has been done on a voluntary basis. 200 m of the trail has been built by the Saue Municipal Government, and 415 m has been built with the support of the European Union and with the support of the Saue Municipal Government. The rest of the trail has been built by MTÜ Vanamõisa küla with the help of private investors. The texts of the hiking trail were written by Evelin Povel.

All visitors have the opportunity to contribute to the further construction and establishment of the trail. All benevolent visitors are welcome to join the Facebook group “Vanamõisa matkarada”. This site provides more detailed information about the birth of the trail to the present day. We also welcome any feedback and information at e-mail address matkarada@kodukyla.ee.

Have a nice hike!

1. Cattle Trail Of The Farms in Vanamõisa Village

When one received land from the manor, it was given in the form of strips. Every farm had a separate pasture strip, and so the animals of several farms moved in the cattle trails of the village. There were cows from Pärtli, Allika, Lodi, and also heifers from Kubja. One cow was wearing the bell around its neck. The farms were small and had only a few animals. The Vanareinu pasture was completely separate, and the Kesküla paddock was at the Vanareinu gate.

The mothers were usually the ones who, in the morning, at about eight o’clock, drove the cows to the pasture. It was the children’s chore to get them back home. To do this, the animals had to be rounded up in the pasture towards the evening, provided the cows were already not waiting at the gate. Sometimes, however, they also had to look for some of them. Children of all families knew the animals by name. Maie, Sirje, Klara, Senta, Kirjak, and Ulli, were some examples of the names. One had to make sure that the cows did not start goring each other.

On the cattle trail, there was long grass, and cows stopped on the way to eat it. The trail by the spring was muddy, and there the children took a detour across the field. The entire journey took a lot of time, and the children had a lot of fun during it, they chatted, climbed on a large stone or picked flowers. The life of the shepherd was great! When they grew up, however, they immediately went to work in the city because the farm work seemed too difficult.

The life of a shepherd was reminisced by Ilse Lill, Vilma Hallik, Arvi Kullo, Aino Tamm, Mrs. Uulma, and Malle Kurkin.

2. Kubja farm

Kubja Farm is an ancient farm in Kerguta village. On August 19, 1885, Hindrek Meenkov (1846-1905), 6th generation successor of Kleiso Mart, an indigenous resident of Vanamõisa village, bought a farm of the size of 38 dessiatins and 2080 square fathoms from Wilhelm von Straelborn, the owner of Vanamõisa, for 2970 silver rubles with the contract concluded at the parish judge in Voore. The landlord retained his right to hunt on the lands of the Kubja Farm, and the owner also had to allow the use of the roads on his lands. The sale of spirits and vodka distilling and beer brewing were forbidden.

After the death of Hindrek, son Kustas (1869-1956) inherited the farmstead. Kustas and his wife Pauline Wilhelmine (born Piin, 1877-1957) had a total of ten children: Elise Wilhelmine, Pauline, Heinrich, Gustav, Maria, Amanda, Julie, Elfriede Johanna, Voldemar and Alma.

On the farm, winter rye and winter wheat, barley, mixed grain, clover, potatoes, fodder beets, cabbage, carrots, and beets were grown. In the garden were apple trees, plums, damsons, and cherries, red currant bushes, raspberries, and strawberries. They also had different animals – horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens, plus beehives.

Juhan Seljamägi from Vanamõisa Reinu Farm has reminisced the Kubja family thusly: “To characterize Kubja Kustas: calm with a phlegmatic way of talking, a sensible man, and a little blunt beard around his chin. His wife was a small, chubby woman with a round fresh face as if she hadn’t given birth to a lot of children. And squeal and laughter of the children sounded all the way to Reinu over village pastures in the spring and in the warm evenings of autumn.” Abbreviated from the book “Notes from Vanamõisa I” (Helle Koppel, Evelin Povel)

3.The Sõeru sacrificial spring

The Sõeru sacrificial spring seeps out of the ground on the meadow of the former Kubja Farm. Nobody knows when the people of Vanamõisa started to visit the spring, but the tradition of respecting the sacrificial spring goes back to the Stone Age. Back then it was believed that the water bodies keep contact between the living and their ancestors, and the gifts brought to the sacrificial spring were a kind of tribute to the other side and the water fairies.

The health spring was believed to have a healing effect. Old folks explain that the water of Sõeru spring was used to treat eyes. Various methods of treatments can be found in the old lore. In some cases, only eye cleansing on the spot will allegedly help. If you take the water with you, the effect will disappear. There was also a common belief that, depending on the type and severity of the disease, the eyes had to be washed three, six or even nine times. If your eyes are a matter of concern, try flushing them with spring water today.

Tidying up of Sõeru sacrificial spring in 2003. In the picture Aino Tamm, Vilma Hallik, Aase Kraft, Maie Suviste, Ilse Lill. Private collection of Eero Kaljuste

4. Sõeru Hill and observation tower

Coming soon

5. Large Stone

That’s what the village children called this voluminous stone. Large stone. It was such fun to climb on top of it and then jump down again. Or sit on top of the stone as a group, turn the nose to the sun, and dream big things. Dream about father bringing a treat from the city market, or being able to travel to the city with parents, to see the world and the people in it, and to grow up.

The stone still calls to climb on top of it and jump down from it, to have a chat together and play exciting games.

6. Fortification of Peter the Great’s Naval Fortress

In the early twentieth century, when Estonia was part of Tsarist Russia, Tallinn was surrounded by a powerful belt of concrete dugouts and underground tunnels, and was named the Peter the Great’s Naval Fortress in honor of Peter the Great. Its task was to protect St. Petersburg from the enemy. The coastal defense of the fortress was called the seafront. It included coastal batteries, headquarters, railway network, communications objects, and warehouses. For any attacks from the land, marine batteries had to be protected, and the land front was planned to be built for this purpose. The project, approved in 1913, provided for a number of positions with forts, concrete shelters, and the tunnels, batteries and trenches connecting them. Powerful concrete buildings were completed in Vääna-Posti, Vääna-Viti, Vana-Pääsküla, Humala, Alliku, and Rae. Traces of these buildings are still visible here and there, even though Peter the Great’s Naval Fortress itself was never finished. Only five years after the approval of the land front project, the Republic of Estonia was declared. The fortifications were never used to protect St. Petersburg, nor did they help protect Tallinn.

The fortifications of the Naval Fortress that have survived to this day, even though occasionally damaged by people’s carelessness and wear and tear of time, are historical monuments worthy of preservation.

7. Outdoor gym and balance track

Coming Soon

8. Tähe Hill

Kahekümneneda sajandi algusaastatel, mil Eesti Vene tsaaririigi koosseisu kuulus, ümbritseti Tallinn võimsa betoonblindaažide ja maa-aluste tunnelite vööga ning nimetati see Vene tsaari Peeter I auks Peeter Suure merekindluseks. Selle ülesanne oli kaitsta Peterburi linna vaenlase eest. Kindluse rannakaitselõiku hakati kutsuma mererindeks. Sinna kuulusid rannapatareid, staap, raudteevõrk, sideobjektid, laod. Võimalike maapoolsete rünnakute eest tuli merelist patareid samuti kaitsta ning selleks kavandati rajada maarinne. 1913. aastal kinnitatud projekt nägi ette hulka positsioone ühes fortide, betoonvarjendite ja neid ühendavate tunnelite, patareide ning kaevikutega. Võimsad betoonehitised jõuti valmis ehitada Vääna-Postil, Vääna-Vitil, Vana-Pääskülas, Humalas, Allikul ja Rael. Jäljed neist ehitistest on tänagi kohati nähtavad, kuigi Peeter Suure merekindlus ise ei saanudki valmis. Maarinde projekti kinnitamisest Eesti Vabariigi väljakuulutamiseni jäi vaid viis aastat. Kaitserajatisi ei kasutatud Peterburi kaitseks kunagi, neist polnud abi ka Tallinna kaitsmisel.

Merekindluse tänaseni säilinud kaitserajatised, olgugi, et kohati inimeste hoolimatusest ja ajahambast räsitud, on hoidmist väärt ajaloomälestised.

9. Kärner Farm

Kärneri Farm is one of the ancient farmsteads of Kerguta village and got its name from the owners, gardeners Toomas and Jaan, who were mentioned in the census records as early as 1750 and 1765. At the time the farm got its name, in 1835, it was owned by Joosep, the son of the Mäe innkeeper, who was given the surname Krage together with his wife Leenu and two sons. Fifty years later, in 1885, the farm was purchased from the Vanamõisa manor by the peasant Mihkel Külmallik; he, however, fell soon into debts. When Mihkel died in 1909, it turned out that about ten years before that, the farm had been purchased by Jüri Part from Märjamaa region. However, the agreement was oral, and the purchase-sale agreement had not been concluded in time. After the death of Mihkel Külmallik, Jüri Part went to court, while sworn advocate Jaan Poska made inquiries on behalf of the Peace Council. The lawsuits lasted for several years, but in the end, Jüri Part prevailed, the purchase-sale agreement was approved and he took over the farm with all the debts of the previous family.

Since then, Kärneri Farm has been associated with the Part family. In 1929, when the farm was fully bought out, the size of the farm was 37.26 dessiatins, of which arable land was 7.48 dessiatins. Rye, barley, oats, mixed grains, potatoes, and cabbage were grown. There were two horses, four cows, a heifer and a calf, two sheep, a pig, chickens and chicks. The farm had its own water well.

Jüri’s son Jüri had five sons and two daughters with his second wife Juula (born Piits). Their descendants still live in Vanamõisa. Vilma Hallik, the daughter of Jüri’s son Rudolf still lives in Kärneri. However, Ilse Lill, Jüri’s grandchild from his daughter Pauline Wilhelmine Reinu, lives in Tamme Farm that was separated from Kärneri in 1931.

Jüri Part’s grandchildren Vilma and Ilse have reminisced about their grandfather: “Jüri Part was a wealthy man, and at the same time very fair. He helped all his children to succeed by bequeathing or buying them farms, and helping them build houses. Jüri’s favorite was Pauline – she took care of the illiterate Jüri Part’s finances.”

Abbreviated from the book “Notes from Vanamõisa I” (Helle Koppel, Evelin Povel)

10. The Boundary Stone Of Three Manors

The Boundary Stone of Three Manors is the place where the boundaries of Vääna Manor (Peetri-Mõisaküla Village), Hüüru Manor (Lehmja Village) and Vanamõisa Manor (Vanamõisa Village) meet. All three were knight manors of Keila parish.

Vanamõisa Manor, formerly known as Kerguta, was first mentioned under the name of Vanamõisa (Wannamois in German) in 1556 when it was used as a support manor of Saku. There has never been a gorgeous castle in Vanamõisa because the owners have never lived here, the presence of the lord of the manor was always sufficient. So it was rather an economic manor.

Hüüru Manor was historically a part of the Harku Rural Municipality, located on the bank of the Vääna River by the Tallinn-Paldiski road, a few kilometers from the border of capital city. An active village community operates today in the Hüüru Manor, keeping the building as well as its surroundings in order.

Peetri Manor located at Paldiski road, in the present village of Kiia was a support manor of Vääna Manor. Here too was located only the economic unit, and there has never been a fancy manor house.

Installation of boundary stones started mostly in the second half of the 19th century when the purchase of farms took momentum. On the upper side of the stone, the crosses were cut which indicated the direction of the boundary. Often the numbers of the farms and the year of the installation of the stones were cut into the stone as well. Today, many boundary stones have sunk into the ground or are covered with abundant moss. All the more exciting is to meet the stones carrying the information of times.

11. Outdoor education: water

12. Outdoor education: trees

13. Site of Vanamõisa Manor

Coming soon

14. A human-like stone

A book by Matthias Johann Eisen on the sacrifice of ancestors published in the 1920s, contains a legend of a human-shaped stone in Vanamõisa: There is also a human-like stone next to Keila Vanamõisa curve. People say that it is the bride who was turned into a stone by the groom who left her. According to a variation, the groom did not turn the bride into a stone, but instead, the bride sighed, as she did not want to marry this unpleasant man: I wish God created me as a stone rather than as a human being. The boys were said to have later knocked off one of the arms of the stone.

From the book “Ancestors’ Sacrifices” (Matthias Johann Eisen