Naissaar Island

Naissaar lies about ten kilometres off Tallinn, some eighteen square kilometres of pine forest and sand, and its history is military: fortified from the eighteenth century and used as a naval mine depot until 1993, which left the island covered in bunkers, batteries, rail lines and a mine store now open to visitors. A narrow-gauge railway laid to move ordnance still runs in part and carries visitors. The villages where a Swedish-speaking community once farmed and fished are now ruins. The forest has grown back over everything. Trails and the railway link the sites.

History

Naissaar means "island of women" in Estonian, and it may be the Terra Feminarum mentioned by Adam of Bremen around 1075. Estonian Swedish fishermen were well established on the island by the 15th century; the Swedes built a small fortress there in 1705, and after Estonia passed to the Russian Empire the tsar had a new fortress with five bastions built in 1720 to guard Tallinn and St Petersburg. In 1850 the island had 155 inhabitants and in 1858 188, most of them Estonian Swedes, who built a new chapel between 1853 and 1856 as part of the Swedish parish of St Michael in Tallinn. In the early twentieth century Russia began modernising its Gulf of Finland defences, and in 1914 it opened the island's narrow-gauge railway, with 37.7 km of track (Wikipedia, Naissaar).

What you'll find

• The mine depot - the Soviet storage buildings open to visitors.
• Gun batteries and bunkers - the fortifications scattered through the forest.
• The narrow-gauge railway - the line still running across the island.
• Village ruins - the remains of the Swedish settlements.

When to go

June to August, when boats run regularly; services are reduced or absent outside summer. Day trips leave in the morning and return in the afternoon, so timing governs how much can be seen. Bicycles help cover the distances.

Practical notes

Boat schedules are limited and weather-dependent. The island is large and walking between sites takes hours; bicycles or the railway are effectively necessary. Some structures are unstable and unlit. Facilities are minimal with one small cafe in season.

Nearby

Tallinn lies south across the bay; Aegna is east.

Key facts