Ice Age Centre

The Ice Age Centre sits beside Lake Saadjarv in Vooremaa, a landscape of drumlins, long low hills aligned by the movement of the ice sheet with lakes in the hollows between them, which is why the exhibition is here: the ground outside is the subject. Three floors cover the glacial cycles, the ice sheets that repeatedly covered northern Europe, the landforms they left, the animals of the period with reconstructed mammoth and cave lion, and the arrival of people in what became Estonia after the ice retreated. Presentation is interactive and aimed partly at children. A film and outdoor trails complete the visit, and the lake is used for swimming in summer.

History

The idea for the centre came in 2004 from the Saadjärv Nature School and its director Asta Tuusti, who wanted a visitor attraction near Lake Saadjärv that would also teach about nature, at Äksi, where the drumlins, lakes and boulders around are themselves a legacy of the ice sheets. The rural municipality of Tartu backed the project, and the exhibition was built to present the ice ages in the context of world history, their legacy in Estonia's landscape and wildlife, and the prospects of climate change; the centre cost about 4 million euros, partly paid by the European Regional Development Fund, and in 2012 it was named the best new tourist attraction in Estonia (Wikipedia, Ice Age Centre).

What's there

• The glacial exhibition - the three floors on ice ages and their landscapes.
• Animal reconstructions - the mammoth and other ice age fauna.
• The drumlin landscape - the Vooremaa hills and lakes outside.
• Lake Saadjarv - the water beside the centre.

When to go

Year round; the exhibition is indoors. Summer allows swimming in the lake and the outdoor trails. School holidays bring family crowds. It closes on some weekdays out of season.

What to expect

The presentation is aimed substantially at children and families. Much of the labelling is in Estonian with English available. The centre is a modern exhibition rather than a collection of objects. It takes about two hours.

Nearby

Alatskivi castle lies east; Tartu is south.

Key facts