War of Independence Memorial in Rõuge

The Monument of Nation is the oldest monument in Tartu. The bones buried under the floor and in the cemetery of St Mary’s Church were found when the main building of the University of Tartu was built on the former site of the church. In 1806 they were reburied in Toomeorg near Vallikraavi Street and the small square Monument to People, which was created according to the drawings of J W Krause and resembles the tomb monuments of Asia Minor (Lykia), was erected there in 1811. The human bones found in the course of archaeological work in the cellars of the main building of the University of Tartu were buried by the monument’s side that faces street on 20 September 1985. A case with information was also buried in the grave.

The monument to the physician who studied and became a professor in Tartu was completed in 1952. The authors of the monument are J Raudsepp, A Mölder, P Tarvas, A Volberg.Nikolai Pirogov was the founder of experimental surgery, topographic anatomy and field surgery. His work made the surgeries performed in Tartu famous all over Russia and also abroad.

One of the most important battles of the War of Independence took place near the Paju Manor on 31 January 1919. The Northern Sons Regiment that consisted of Finnish volunteers also fought for the independence of Estonia over here. The most legendary commander in the War of Independence, Lieutenant Julius Kuperjanov, was fatally injured in the battle. The battle memorial is a granite pillar on a three-level pyramid, which was reopened on the 75th anniversary of the battle on 30 January 1994.Interesting facts: * the memorial was opened by President of the Republic of Estonia Lennart Meri; * a memorial tablet to the Northern Sons who fell in the battle can be found on the wall of the Valga Jaani (St John’s) Church.

A monument to cold weather has been erected on the Piibe road on the outskirts of Jõgeva, where the lowest ever temperature in Estonia (-43.5*C) was recorded in 1940. The monument also highlights the most recent record of -37.6*C from 2003, also recorded in Jõgeva.

The Monument to the Estonian Mother was inaugurated in Rõuge on 26 June 2010. The monument is meant to demonstrate appreciation for the Estonian woman as a mother, to express gratitute, and to value the survival of our people. Hans Sissas (1933 - 2012), who has recounted the stories of Estonian deportees and authored many memoirs, initiated the idea of a monument to the Estonian mother, and lead the efforts to have the monument completed.The monument is made from stone brought from Udmurtia, and is 3.6 high, weighing nearly 6 tonnes.The monument was designed by the artists/sculptors Ilme and Riho Kuld, and was made by the sculptors/stone masons Margus Kurvits and Kristjan Kittus.

The Monument to Dr. Fr. R. Kreutzwald is located in a park on the shore of Lake Tamula. The author of the monument is A. Adamson and it was cast in bronze in Italy. The monument was opened in 1926. It is not known when the park was founded, however the age of most of the species of trees, birches and lindens is estimated at more than one hundred years. The coniferous trees in the park include spruces and firs. Lake Tamula has an oval shape in an east-west direction with an average depth of 4.2 m. The lake is deepest to the northeast of its centre (7.5 m) and has a surface area of 231 ha. There is a swimming area, beach and a beautiful promenade on the shore on the city side. In Kreutzwald Park, there is an accessible trail.

The memorial is located in Võru central square and is dedicated to the residents of Võru who died in the Estonia ferry disaster during the stormy night of September 28, 1994. The memorial was built in 1996 (sculptor M. Karmin).

The monument to Peeter Siegfried Nikolaus Põld (1878–1930), the first Minister of Education and founder of the national university of Estonia, the first professor of pedagogy, was unveiled in front of the Ministry of Education and Research on 1 December 2008.The authors of the monument are sculptor Ekke Väli and architect Ain Rööpson.Under the name of Peeter Põld Day, student scientific conferences have been organised at the University of Tartu since 2008, and on the same day, the university issues a scholarship named after him.