Suurupi.Travel Suurupi is a small round-shaped peninsula about 15 kilometers west of Tallinn, the capital. There are interesting buildings and coastal defence works on that peninsula: two old lighthouses, World War I era concrete installations for coastal artillery batteries that were updated before and after World War II, man-made underground passages and huge trenches, etc.
Ships sailing to Tallinn were guided by the lights of Suurupi lighthouses. Fires have been ignited for seafarers since ancient times to lead them home in the dark or in foggy weather. Day landmarks – cliffs, large trees, churches – were used for safer maritime traffic. Modern lighthouses also serve as day landmarks. The white lighthouse against the backdrop of the green forest stands out.
Estonia is small country with many islands and a difficult coastline, which is why Estonia has many lighthouses and sea marks. There are currently 41 lighthouses and 80 light tanks. The oldest lighthouse in Estonia, which is over 500 years old, is located in Kõpu, Hiiumaa. Suurupi can already be found on the maps in 1566, being an important milestone on the way to Tallinn (previously named as Reval).
Since 1566 one can find the name Surpe in the world navigation guides. Today, we know this place as Suurupi Peninsula, which was first mentioned in a sea book about the descriptions of medieval shipping routes of the Dutch navigator and cartographer Cornelis Anthonisze.
Estonians love to think of themselves as a singing nation. We became independent through singing, or the song revolution, and we love singing in song choirs. Suurupi Village also has an all-female choir named Meretule. It is also a tradition of the Song Festival to bring fire through Estonia and organise festivities along the journey. In 2014, the song festival fire was kept overnight in Suurupi lower lighthouse before arriving in Tallinn. A memorial was built by Mati Karmini for this occasion.
There is a wonderful Devonian sandstone cliff in Suurupi which is unique and picturesque. There is an abundance of forests and wildlife in Suurupi, with endemic foxes, rabbits, goats and elks. Lynx has also been spotted. Seals break fishnets. Nesting swallows, bats, ducks, geese and swans. You can already see wildlife just 15 km from Tallinn.
