page_title: Lahemaa National Park
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lahemaa National Park / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Viru Bog at winter Español: Vista invernal del pantano Viru en el parque nacional de Lahemaa, Estonia. Polski: Widok w&#160;czasie zimy na&#160;torfowisko Viru (est. Viru raba) położone w&#160;Parku Narodowym Lahemaa w&#160;Estonii. Čeština: Rašeliniště Viru bog z Estonska během zimy. Magyar: A Viru-láp télen (Észtország) Italiano: La palude di Viru in inverno. 한국어: 겨울철의 비루 습원, 에스토니아 소재. Македонски: Зимски поглед на блатото Виру во Естонија. Эрзянь: Виру тельня. Nederlands: Hoogveen in het nationaal park Lahemaa in Estland Português: O pântano de Viru no inverno, Parque Nacional de Lahemaa, Estônia. Русский: Болото Виру в Эстонии в зимнее время.
context_page_description: Lahemaa National Park is a park located in northern Estonia, 70 kilometers east from the capital Tallinn. The Gulf of Finland is to the north of the park and the Tallinn-Narva highway is to the south. Its area covers 747 km². It was the first area to be designated a national park of the former Soviet Union. It is the largest park in Estonia and one of Europe's biggest national parks. Its charter calls for the preservation, research and promotion of North-Estonian landscapes, ecosystems, biodiversity and national heritage.
context_section_description: The name Lahemaa originates from the most thoroughly studied and visited part of the North Estonian coast, where four large peninsulas (Juminda, Pärispea, Käsmu and Vergi) are separated from each other by four bays (Kolga, Hara, Eru and Käsmu). Lahemaa translates roughly as "Land of Bays".
  The national park, established in 1971, is one of the main tourism drawcards in Estonia. Several companies offer day tour packages from Tallinn, while many people drive themselves.
  With forests covering more than 70 percent of Lahemaa, the area is rich in flora and fauna. The landscape has many raised bogs, including the 7,000-year-old Laukasoo Reserve. The park, marked by several trails, teems with wildlife, including a population of boar, red deer, wolves, bear and lynx. The coast is covered with rocks and boulders, used each year by cranes as a stopover on their way to the Bosphorus and Egypt.
  There are four manors situated in the national park: Palmse manor, the picturesque Vihula manor, Kolga manor, and the baroque Sagadi Manor, Estonia’s most visited manor which together with the other three comprise one of the most unusual group of manors in the country.
  Prior to 1991, the Soviet Union operated a large secret submarine base at Hara. The base was built in the 1950s during the height of the Cold War. The ruins of this former Soviet submarine base is now located entirely in Lahemaa near the Lahemaa lighthouse.
caption: Viru Bog in winter
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D800", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2013:12:04 18:17:58", "Image ExifOffset": "216", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "972", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "9986", "EXIF ExposureTime": "4/5", "EXIF FNumber": "14", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:12:04 17:20:00", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:12:04 17:20:00", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "40241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "761471/100000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "4/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "24", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "60", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "60", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "16780511/8192", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "16780511/8192", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "3", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "24", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "6117321", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24, 70, 14/5, 14/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8"}