Spending sparetime
by Alexander Welscher
Geographers at the University of Tartu have mapped out 34 record-breaking man-made places of interest for both foreign tourists and local visitors throughout Estonia. Around half of them are in Ida-Viru County in north-eastern part of the country on the border with Russia, where they are now being marked with new golden yellow signs. One of them is located at the Kreenholm factory complex in Narva, which has been indicated as the largest industrial complex in 19th-century Europe.
Military heritage tourism invites people to travel and learn about history right where it happened. Especially in the Baltics, many former battlegrounds, military sites and other visible landmarks still exist. Following up and continuing a previous project in Latvia and Estonia, a new joint initiative has mapped out key site objects in Latvia and Lithuania related to the First and Second World Wars as well as the Cold War. Published in several different languages, the guides for both the Northern and Southern parts, as well as the map list, former battlefields, military objects and other landmarks along with practical information for visitors and the historical context. For a deeper exploration, there are also cross-border routes lasting up to several days.
