Varbola Stronghold

Varbola Jaanilinn is a ring fort of drystone limestone enclosing an area of around two hectares, with a rampart running some 580 metres in circumference and standing to several metres, built from about the tenth century and in use through the wars of the early thirteenth, when it was attacked by Novgorodian and then crusading forces. It is the largest circular stronghold of its kind in Estonia. Inside were dwellings and a well cut deep into the limestone; outside are the remains of a settlement and burial ground. The site is grassed over with the rampart clearly readable, and a visitor point with reconstructions operates in season.

History

Varbola was built in the 10th to 12th centuries as the largest circular rampart fortress and trading centre in Estonia, with a limestone wall 580 metres long and 8 to 10 metres high, long gateways with several gates and towers, a well 13 metres deep in the middle, and about 90 buildings with stoves and limestone floors. Henry of Livonia records that in 1211 Mstislav the Bold of Novgorod besieged it for several days until the defenders paid seven hundred marks. During the Livonian crusade the people of Varbola accepted Christianity and gave hostages to the Brothers of the Sword, then passed under the Danish king Valdemar II, and the Danish census book records the surrounding estate in the hands of the Lode family, nobles of Estonian origin. The stronghold lost its importance in the second quarter of the 14th century, after the St George's Night Uprising of 1343, and in the 16th and 17th centuries it was used as a cemetery; its first known plan was drawn in 1786 by Ludwig August von Mellin, and excavations in 1938-41, 1953 and 1974 turned up finds including bone dice (Wikipedia, Varbola Stronghold).

The main sights

• The ring rampart - the drystone wall running the full circuit.
• The well - the shaft cut into the limestone inside the fort.
• The interior - the enclosed area where the dwellings stood.
• Reconstructions - the built demonstrations at the visitor point.

When to go

May to September when the visitor point is staffed and the reconstructions accessible; the site itself is open year round. Low sun shows the rampart best. Midsummer events are held here.

Before you go

Outside the season the site is unstaffed with no interpretation. What survives is an earth-and-stone rampart, not buildings, and takes reading to understand. There is little shelter. Facilities are seasonal.

Nearby

Rapla lies east; Tallinn is north.

Key facts