100 stories from the hiking route

1939 – Suur Munamägi observation tower is built

Information

Topic

People and nature

Coordinates

Long-Lat WGS 84

Latitude: 57.7139083

Longitude: 27.059775

L-EST 97

x: 6401029.5
y: 682323.5

Location

Ähijärve-Aegviidu Hiking route

The idea to erect a building on top of Munamägi hill, which would offer magnificent views of the surroundings, existed as early as a couple of hundred years ago. Soldiers under the command of a Russian officer put up the first tower on Munamägi during the war in 1812.
The reinforced concrete tower built on Munamägi in 1939 was fifth of the towers built there. The architect was Artur Jürvetson, the head of construction was Võru County Government’s engineer Mägi. The tower was built from 36,000 building bricks, 120 m3 worth of field stones, 265 m3 of gravel, 75 m3 of crushed stone, 80 tons of cement and 110 m3 of water, all of which had to be carried up the hill.
The timber necessary for establishing the formwork and the scaffolding originated from Munamägi and Vällamägi hills, the boards were sawn at the Sänna sawmill in Võru. The tower’s formal opening was cancelled due to the tense situation developing in Europe and Estonia.
The tower did not suffer any remarkable damage during the war and received major repairs in 1955. The modernisation of the tower and the tidying of its surroundings began in 1960. A floor was added to the tower and the structure of the staircase of the upper floors was changed in 1969. The extension was designed by Toomas Rein and Veljo Kaasik. After this, the tower was 29.1 metres tall. The renovation project of the tower was initiated by the Haanja rural municipality in 1998, the formal opening was held on 24 July 2005.