Karula Manor

Karula near Viljandi never had a grand manor house, yet it has a rich story. In the late 18th century the parents of Kristjan Jaak Peterson, the first poet of Estonian literature, worked here as serfs. From 1822 the wealthy Helmersen family ran a prosperous estate with East Frisian cattle, Yorkshire pigs, cheese and vodka. It is told that one baron wanted to build a road straight across the lake to a farm on the far shore; stones were hauled out onto a spit, but the work was abandoned, and the heaps are still there. Today the buildings hold a care home, and the windmill is a climbers' training base.