Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

ESTONIA 109

P Ammende Villa
Mere puiestee 7. Tel 447 3888.
0 noon–11pm daily.
http://www.ammende.ee
Built in 1905 by a wealthy
local merchant for the wed-
ding party of his beloved
daughter, Ammende Villa is
one of the most impressive
examples of Art Nouveau
architecture in Estonia. Over
the years, it has served as a
casino, a health estab lishment
and a library, before two
Estonian businessmen
renovated it and converted it
into a luxury hotel (see p116).
The villa is located a short
walk from the sea and the
Old Town.

E Lydia Koidula Museum

J V Jannseni 37. Tel 443 3313.

# May–Aug: 10am–5pm Tue–Sat;

Sep–Apr: 10am–5pm Tue–Sun. &

8 call in advance. http://www.pernau.ee

Situated a short walk across

the Pärnu river, the Lydia

Koidula Museum provides a

moving testimony to one of

Estonia’s most revered poets.

The museum, which was

established in 1945, is situated

in the building where her

father, Johann Valdemar

Jannsen, ran a primary school

from 1857 to 1863. The high-

light of the museum is a

recon s truction of the bedroom

PÄRNU TOWN

CENTRE

Ammende Villa 6

Elizabeth’s Church 2

Pärnu Concert Hall 4

St Catherine’s Church 3

Tallinn Gate 5

Town Hall 1

Key to Symbols see back flap

LYDIA KOIDULA (1843–86)

Lydia Emilia Florentine Jannsen was a highly influential figure

in Estonian history. Although convention forced her to write

anonymously under the pseudo-

nym Koidula, meaning “of the

dawn”, her poetry was ecstatically

received. Her My Country is My

Love became the unofficial national

anthem during Soviet times. Some

critics believe that Koidula’s finest

writing was her passionate corres-

pondence with the writer Friedrich

Reinhold Kreutzwald, although

his wife eventually put an end

to it. Koidula married a Latvian

doctor whose work took them to

Kronstadt in the Gulf of Finland,

where she later died, pining for

her country to the very end.

VISITORS’ CHECKLIST

128 km (80 miles) S of Tallinn.

* 44,000. k 5 km (3 miles) N

of centre. £ Riia mnt 116. @

Pikk tänav. g n Rüütli 16,

447 3000. _ Pärnu Film Festival

(Jul), Oistrakh Festival (Jul).

where the 43-year old Koidula
died of cancer in 1886 in
the Russian naval base of
Kronstadt. Although very little
of Lydia Koidula’s work is
available in English, the muse-
um offers insight into 19th-
Art Nouveau carving on the façade century Estonian literature.
of Ammende Villa

Lydia Koidula, Estonia’s

beloved writer and poet

0 metres

0 yards

200

200

Railway Station

5 km (3 miles)

Bus

Station

Pärnu Airport

5 km (3 miles)

Ferry Port

2 km (1 mile)

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Elizabeth’s
Church
Town
Hall
St Catherine’s
Church
Pärnu
Concert Hall
Lydia KoidulaMuseum
Tallinn
Gate
Ammende
Villa
Koidula
Park
Pärnu