| Nõva - Põõsaspea (Spithami) 13 km |
|
Nõva - Põõsaspea (Spithami) 13 km
Going along the road to Nõva, which is in the northern part of Läänemaa, you find yourself in the middle of beautiful nature with magnificent pine forests and beaches. This area has become a favourite destination for nature tourists. From Nõva to Dirhami or Riguldi Village you have to go along a gravel road, from there on the road is covered with asphalt. It might be useful to know that there are not any petrol stations in this area.
Nõva has all the rights to be proud of its small 13.6 x 7 metres wooden St. Olaf’s Church, built in 1635. The village on the coast was initially inhabited by Swedes, that’s why the interior of the church is similar to the churches in Gotland. 3 kilometres further on you can find a place called Peraküla with Põlluotsa Museum which introduces the rural life centuries ago. In summer tourists can get information at the info centre of Nõva recreation area about the possibilities of how and where to spend the holiday.
Quite near to Peraküla there is a beginning of a cobblestone road which dates back to the WW I and which takes you straight to Allikjärve or Dance Lake and from there to the Sandy Beach. The sandy beaches at Nõva by Keibu and Liivase Bays are considered to be the best ones in the whole Estonia.
Near Peraküla you can find about 15 small and shallow coastal lakes which are surrounded by 5-metre-high coastal dunes.
Going on from Nõva towards Dirhami, we reach the area which is called Noarootsi. Before WW II 60 % of the inhabitants in the area were Swedes. The Swedish place names are still in use. Dirhami harbour is ice-free and therefore it can be used throughout the year. In the west of Dirhami you can see the location of an old coast battery and in the east you can see the farthest north-western mainland point of Estonian, Põõsaspea Cape.
There is a lighthouse and a lookout, great many enormous granite boulders, breccias and a limestone terrace beach there as well as military landscape with Soviet radar foundations for those who like shock tourism.
An important migration route of Arctic water birds goes across the cape and it is one of the best bird watching places on the coast of the West Sea. From Põõsaspea you can have a look at the island of Osmussaare and Neugrund’s meteorite crater, which is in the sea about 10 km to the north. It is believed that the meteorite explosion happened about 475 million years ago and the breccias found on the coasts of north-west Estonia are probably the result of that explosion.
|
/MT_banner.jpg)
.gif)
