EXCURSION 4: Tartu and a barge sailing trip on River Emajõgi

We are inviting you on a board of a unique wooden trading vessel, the barge “Jõmmu”. You can feel historical travelling of Hanseatic times and enjoy the nature of the riverbanks of River Emajõgi, the river connecting the two largest lakes of Estonia, Võrtsjärv and Peipsi. In Estonia, Peipsi barges sailed the inland waters for more than 600 years – from the 14th until the middle of the 20th century – thus contributing greatly to the prosperity of several Estonian towns, especially Tartu. In Barge Hall we will have a short tour demonstrating the history of this unique ship type Peipsi Barge, and you can also see the shipbuilding of the new two-mast barge. We will enjoy the local cuisine in the Barge Hall.

Afternoon, we are visiting the Toomemäe (Toome Hill), which is Tartu’s medieval heart with its imposing ruins of the Tartu Cathedral overlooking the lower town. In Toomemäe we first visit the Tartu Old Observatory, that was an active observatory from 1810 to 1964. The building now serves as a museum and offers an interesting insight to astronomy by presenting telescopes, and history of astronomical and astrophysical research in Estonia. Thereafter we visit the ruins of the Tartu Cathedral. The massive, red-brick structure of the Tartu Cathedral, which dates to the late 13th century, was heavily damaged during the Livonian War in 16th century. We stroll through the cathedral’s columns, and can visit the renovated towers.