Gannibal, Pushkin's great-grandfather, at Karjaküla

Abram Gannibal, a nobleman of African origin, was brought to Russia as a child as a gift for Peter the Great. He became the Tsar's godson and a Russian military engineer. After serving in Pärnu he bought Karjaküla manor from the Golovin family and settled here at 37, when he retired in 1733. The estate was small: about ten serfs and a two room house of pine logs. He planted a large orchard, which now lies under a reservoir. His great-grandson Alexander Pushkin later wrote that he had bought the estate with 2,000 inherited ducats and lived as a modest country squire with his growing family. In 1742 Gannibal became commandant of Tallinn.