Meremäe Parish
| Meremäe Parish Meremäe vald | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Municipality of Estonia | |||
| |||
 Meremäe Parish within Võru County. | |||
| Country |
 Estonia | ||
| County |
 Võru County | ||
| Administrative centre | Meremäe | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 131.97 km2 (50.95 sq mi) | ||
| Population (01.01.2009) | |||
| • Total | 1,140 | ||
| • Density | 8.6/km2 (22/sq mi) | ||
| Website | www.meremae.ee | ||
Meremäe Parish (Estonian: Meremäe vald) is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County. It has a population of 1,140 (as of 1 January 2009) and an area of 131.97 km².[1]
Meremäe is a part of the cultural region of Setomaa.
Settlements
- Villages
Ala-Tsumba - Antkruva - Ermakova - Härmä - Helbi - Hilana - Hilläkeste - Holdi - Ignasõ - Jaanimäe - Jõksi - Juusa - Kalatsova - Kangavitsa - Karamsina - Kasakova - Kastamara - Keerba - Kiiova - Kiislova - Kiksova - Kitsõ - Klistina - Kõõru - Korski - Kuigõ - Kuksina - Küllätüvä - Kusnetsova - Lepä - Lindsi - Lutja - Maaslova - Marinova - Martsina - Masluva - Melso - Merekülä - Meremäe - Miikse - Miku - Navikõ - Obinitsa - Olehkova - Ostrova - Paklova - Palandõ - Palo - Paloveere - Pelsi - Pliia - Poksa - Polovina - Puista - Raotu - Rokina - Ruutsi - Seretsüvä - Serga - Sirgova - Sulbi - Tääglova - Talka - Tedre - Tepia - Tessova - Teterüvä - Tiirhanna - Tiklasõ - Tobrova - Treiali - Triginä - Tsergondõ - Tsirgu - Tsumba - Tuplova - Tuulova - Ulaskova - Uusvada - Vaaksaarõ - Väiko-Härmä - Väiko-Serga - Vasla - Veretinä - Vinski - Viro - Võmmorski.
The larger villages are Meremäe (146 residents) and Obinitsa (135 residents). None of the other villages were reported to have more than 34 people living there in 2011.
Education
Obinitsa Kindergarten and Meremäe School which operate as a kindergarten/basic school are situated in the Meremäe municipality.
History
Meremäe rural municipality was established on 23 May 1922. It belonged under Petseri County (Estonian: Petserimaa). Meremäe rural municipality was formed as a result of the administrative-territorial reform, in the course of which the four large municipalities of Petseri County were divided into 11 smaller ones. Meremäe rural municipality was at first called Obinitsa.
In 1922, on the 13th and 14 August the first elections of the rural municipality council took place. Nikolai Rammula was elected as the mayor of the rural municipality; Johan Tamm became the rural municipality secretary. The Rural Municipality Office was situated in the household of a family named Kärner in Põrste village. A new rural municipality building - Meremäe Town Hall, was built quite near to the geographical centre of the municipality, to Mihailova puustus (wasteland), at the intersection of the historic Võru-Petseri and Pankjavitsa-Kiirova-Orava-Räpina roads. Today this building is used as Meremäe Youth Centre.
On 16 May 1923, Obinitsa rural municipality was renamed Meremäe rural municipality. New elections took place on the same year, where running for the rural municipality council were districts by the names of "Krundimehed", "Mihailova District", "Mihailova and Vasilde Districts United" and "Obinitsa District", altogether 75 candidates in the lists. Nikolai Rammula was re-elected for rural municipality mayor and Johan Tamm for secretary.
During Soviet times, a system of different village councils existed on the rural municipality territory. Kalatsova, Obinitsa and Veretion had separate village councils, who at first were subordinate to Meremäe Rural Municipality Executive Committee who, in turn, was subordinate to Võru County and later on to the Executive Committee of the Vastseliina District. Later on, the Executive Committee of the rural municipality was dissolved. Kalatsova Village Council was renamed to Meremäe Village Council, Veretino Village Council was joined with Obinitsa, which in turn was joined with Meremäe. According to the agreement signed in August 1944 and pressured by the central authorities of the Soviet Union, the Estonian Soviet Socialist Union government surrendered more than half of Petseri County over to the Russian Federation. Among that a significant part of Meremäe rural municipality territory, villages around Krantsova, Kiirova and Vasilde.
After the dissolution of Vastseliina District in 1959 they belonged under Võru District. The territory of Meremäe parish has changed quite significantly over the years. On 3 September 1960, Meremäe Village Council was joined together with a part of then known as Illi Village Council (villages of Kapera, Möldre and Vana-Vastseliina area). The self-governing status of Meremäe rural municipality was reinstated on 5 March 1992. On 1 January 1998, the aforementioned villages belonging under Vastseliina parish were given back to Vastseliina rural municipality and the Meremäe rural municipality of today covers a territory by the size of 132 square kilometres, and has 87 smaller and larger villages of the historic Setomaa. Meremäe rural municipality building has had its location in many places. In the beginning, the rural municipality office was situated in the household of Kärner family in Põrste village, later, the building for the rural municipality was built in Meremäe, where Meremäe youth centre is situated today and the present rural municipality building was built in 1932.[2]
Sightseeing
Churches: The Obinitsa Church of Transfiguration of Our Lord, belonging to the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, the Meeksi Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist and Obinitsa School-Church (closed).
Sacrificial stones: The sacrificial stone Jaanikivi (John’s stone) is located opposite to Meeksi Church by the Meeksi Stream.
Hills: Kuksina Hill, Meremäe Hill - the hill is also a home to a viewing tower and a song stage.
Typical small Seto chapels (tsässon): Võmmorski tsässon (and Võmmorski old tsässon ), Küllätüvä tsässon, Meldova tsässon, Serga tsässon, Tobrova tsässon, Uusvada tsässon, Ulaskova tsässon, Pelsi tsässon, Rokina tsässon, Obinitsa tsässon, Härmä tsässon and Kuigõ tsässon. Tsässonas in Miikse and Viro villages are perished. Viro stone cross is situated at the location of the Viro tsässon.
Rivers and lakes: Piusa River, Pelska River, Obinitsa Stream, Obinitsa Lake, Hilläkeste Lake and Engli Lake.
Caves and sandstone outcrops: Make wall, Härma Alumine wall, Härma Mäemine wall, Obinitsa Juudatare cave (Satan’s cave).
Monuments and sculptures: The monument to the Singing Mother of the Seto People stands on the high bank of Obinitsa artificial lake, modelled by sculptor E. Rebane, E. Taniloo in 1986. Memorial stones to other famous local singers of the area stand around the monument.
Parks: Meremäe Park of Mourning and Meremäe birch grove
Indigenous trees and sacred places: Meremäe pines, Tsirgu pine, Uusvada ludimägi (sacred place), Jaanikivi (John’s stone).
Hiking trails: Hiking trail of the Piusa River.
Springs: Tepia sacrificial spring, Ojaotsa springs (Tuhkvitsa springs) and Kõõru sacrificial spring (Müräläte).
Museums and culture centres: Obinitsa museum and Luikjärve farm, Hal`as Kunn Art Gallery, Obinitsa Village Centre, Obinitsa Community Centre. Burial grounds: Obinitsa graveyard, Sakalovapalo burial mounds, Miikse graveyard.
Entrepreneurship
The more important businesses in Meremäe rural municipality are operating in the fields of agriculture, tourism, creative industry and mining industry. Piusa Ancient Valley Holiday Complex and Setomaa Tourist Farm are the most notable tourism businesses. Marinova dolostone quarry is located within the rural municipality.
References
- ↑ "Population figure and composition". http://www.stat.ee Statistics Estonia. Retrieved 27 January 2010.
- ↑ "meremae.ee". Retrieved 2014-05-15.
External links
- Official website (Estonian)
Coordinates: 57°44′52″N 27°27′40″E / 57.74778°N 27.46111°E
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