Luunja river port

The yellow window is located at the River Emajõgi port in Luunja. The river has played an important role in local life for centuries. It was in Kabina in Luunja parish that Juliane Klementine, the first steamboat of Livonia, was launched in 1842. Also today, people can take a boat from Luunja River Port along the River Emajõgi to either Tartu or Lake Võrtsjärv. Between Kavastu village in Luunja parish and Veskimäe village in Kastre parish, you can cross the river with your car on a river ferry that is unique to the entire Baltic region. The only purported river tavern in Estonia was established on the site of Uue-Kastre fort in the 18th century. The tavern operated for a long time, surviving even the Second World War. The building on the ruins of the tavern was completed in 2004 and now houses Emajõe-Suursoo Nature Centre.

Looking in the opposite direction from River Emajõgi, the yellow window overlooks the buildings of Luunja manor complex (the gardener’s house, distillery and smithery) and the park that was constructed on the slope terraces of the Emajõgi primeval valley by Count Burchard Christoph von Münnich in the mid-18th century. With the reconstruction of the park, a canal system and islands were also established on the flood plains of River Emajõgi. In the late 19th century, the park was redesigned as a free-form landscape park. During the Soviet era, the walled orchard was replaced by a rose garden, which was reconstructed in 2018 as a gift to the Republic of Estonia for its centenary.

Luunja has much to offer for people interested in exploring thrilling historic sites as well as beautiful nature. The winding river in the magical primeval valley, Peipsiveere and Pähklisaare nature reserves with their unique biota, hiking trails, viewing platform and camping site, the manor parks, alleys and buildings in Luunja and Kavastu, the rose garden in Luunja with the rose species bearing its name and many other places await visitors.