Piirissaar Island

Piirissaar lies in Lake Peipus, a flat island of around eight square kilometres and a few dozen residents, much of it marsh and reed with sandy ridges carrying the villages. The community is Old Believer, descendants of Russians who left after the seventeenth-century church schism and settled along the Peipus shore, and the island keeps a prayer house, a cemetery and the customs of that tradition. Onions and vegetables are grown on the sandy strips as they are along the mainland Onion Road. Boardwalks cross the wet ground between villages. Access is by boat from Laaksaare in summer and, in hard winters, across the ice.

What to look for

• The Old Believer prayer house - the community's church and cemetery.
• Onion cultivation - the vegetable strips on the sandy ridges.
• Marsh boardwalks - the raised paths across the wet ground.
• Lake Peipus - the open water surrounding the island.

When to go

June to August for reliable boats and the growing season. Winter access depends on the ice being thick enough for the road, which is not every year. Spring flooding covers much of the island.

Practical notes

Boat services are few and weather-dependent. The community is small, elderly and private; visitors should be discreet and ask before photographing. Facilities are almost nil. Mosquitoes in the marsh are severe in summer.

Nearby

Laaksaare is the mainland harbour; the Onion Road runs along the western shore.

Key facts