Viinistu Art Museum

Viinistu is a small fishing village on the Parispea peninsula in Lahemaa, and its fish processing plant, built in the mid-twentieth century and closed in the 1990s, was converted from 2003 into an art museum by Jaan Manitski, who had made money abroad and returned to the village where he was born. The collection is one of the largest private holdings of Estonian art, covering the classical period, the 1920s and 1930s, the later twentieth century and contemporary work, hung in the converted industrial spaces. A hotel, restaurant and concert hall operate on the same site. The village around it is small, with a harbour, and the coast here is boulder shore and pine.

The main sights

• The Estonian collection - painting and sculpture across the twentieth century.
• The converted factory - the industrial spaces the works hang in.
• The harbour - the fishing village and its shore.
• The coastal setting - the Lahemaa boulder coast and pine forest.

When to go

May to September when the museum and the village facilities are fully open; winter hours are reduced. Concerts and events are held in season. Weekdays are quiet.

Good to know

Opening hours are seasonal and reduced in winter. Labelling is mostly in Estonian with limited English. The village is remote with few other facilities. The collection is national rather than international in scope.

Nearby

Purekkari cape lies north; Kasmu is west along the coast.