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Saaremaa (Swedish and German Ösel) is the largest island belonging to Estonia. It is located in the Baltic Sea, to south of Hiiumaa island, belonging to the west Estonian archipelago. The capital of Saaremaa is Kuressaare, which has about 16,000 inhabitants, the whole island has about 40,000 inhabitants.
Saaremaa is the main island of Saare County, called Saaremaa or Saare maakond in Estonian. The Swedish and German name of the island is Ösel, in Finnish it's called Saarenmaa, literally isle's land.
History
Main article: History of Estonia
According to arceological finds, the territory of Saaremaa has been inhabited at least five thousand years. In old Scandinavian sagas, Saaremaa is called Eysysla which means exactly the same as the name of the island in Estonian : the district (land) of island. This is the origin of islands name in German and Swedish, Ösel and in Latin Osilia. The name Eysysla appears sometimes together with Adalsysla, 'the big land', perhaps 'Suuremaa' or 'Suur Maa' in Estonian which refers to mainland Estonia. Sagas talk about numerous skirmishes between islanders and vikings. Saaremaa was wealthiest county of ancient Estonia, the home of notorious Estonian pirates, sometimes called Eastern Vikings. The chronicle Henry of Livonia describes the fleet of sixteen ships and five hundred Osilians that was ravaging the area that is now Southern Sweden, then beloning to Denmark.
In 1227 Saaremaa was conquered by Livonian Order but remained the hotbed of Estonian resistance. When order was defeated by the Lithuanian army in 1236, Saaremaa islanders rebelled. The conflict was ended by a treaty that was signed by the Osilians and the master of the Order.
Part of Saaremaa was ruled dicrectly by the Order, other part being part of semi-independent Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek. On 15 April 1560 the bishopric was sold by the last prince-bishop to Denmark. Saaremaa became part of Denmark.
In 1645, Saaremaa was ceded from Denmark to Sweden by the Treaty of Brömsebro. In 1721, along with the rest of Swedish Estonia, Saaremaa (then known by its Swedish name of Ösel) was ceded to Imperial Russia by the Treaty of Nystad, becoming a part of the Russian governorate-general of Estonia, to which it has since remained attached.
Estonia became independent after the October Revolution and the collapse of Imperial Russia, but was annexed by the USSR in June 1940, as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, as a result of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Nonaggression Pact. Independence was regained on August 20, 1991, in the collapse of the Soviet Union
Transport to Saaremaa
It is possible to reach Saaremaa by ferry from Virtsu on the Estonian mainland to Muhu island, which is itself connected to Saaremaa via a causeway. Saaremaa can also be reached using a ferry from Sõru on the island of Hiiumaa.
There are regular bus services from Tallinn, Pärnu and Tartu on the mainland.
It is possible to fly from Kuressaare to Tallinn, and there are also seasonal flights to Pärnu.
See also
External links
- Saaremaa (http://www.saaremaa.ee)
- Avies (http://www.avies.ee) fly daily between Tallinn and Kuressaare
- Neomobile (http://www.neomobile.ee) provide local bus services across the island
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