Founded in 1905 by local Estonian patriots, the Estonian National Museum (Eesti rahva muuseum) is another Tartu-based national institution that has resisted the temptation to move to Tallinn. Housed in a futuristic building at the former airfield of Raad, 4km northeast of the centre, the museum contains an exemplary overview of the nation’s ethnography and culture, with a stunning array of regional handicrafts, good English labelling, and plenty of audio-visual content.

It’s Estonia’s biggest museum and there’s a lot to see.

Encounters

The main permanent exhibition, “Encounters”, covers life in Estonia from the earliest times to the present day. Rakes the size of small trees serve as a reminder of how haymaking and preparation of winter fodder was a matter of life and death to the average Estonian farmstead, while a sizeable collection of carved wooden beer tankards introduces a section on village feasts and holidays. The hand-woven textiles on display look far more exotic than the bland linen tablecloths sold in the Estonian souvenir shops of today: look out for embroidered skirts from the Halliste region, featuring archaic star and sun-shapes in bright greens and blues.

Echo of the Urals