Jõgeva (county)

Jõgeva (county)

Roll over the landscape of the **Vooremaa** drumlins where long hills stretch like waves across the earth. These ridges were formed by ancient glaciers and now provide long views over the blue stripes of Lake **Saadjärv**. Every hill here has a story about the giant hero **Kalevipoeg** who supposedly shaped this land with his bare hands. You can find massive boulders in the fields that legend says were stones he threw during his battles. Stop in **Põltsamaa** to walk over nineteen small bridges that crisscross the river and lead to a rose garden with thousands of blooms. The stone walls of the local castle hold a wine cellar where you can taste berry wines made from local harvests. It is a bright green county where the fields seem to glow in the summer light. The local park is a great spot to stretch your legs and watch the ducks floating under the weeping willows. Visit the **Elistvere** animal park to see moose and lynx in their natural forest home. The shore of Lake **Peipus** starts here with long rows of traditional houses and garden stands. You can buy hand-knotted onion garlands and fresh cucumbers directly from the people who grow them. The lakeside roads in Jõgeva county are narrow and charming, offering a window into a lifestyle that has remained unchanged for generations.

Jõgeva (county) highlights

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The Scenic Route
The Heritage Drive
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History of Jõgeva (county)

The hills of the Jõgeva county were sculpted by moving ice sheets about 12,000 years ago. Creating long ridges called drumlins that look like waves made of earth. These hills are the setting for the 13th century legends of Kalevipoeg, a giant hero who was said to have plowed the landscape with his bare hands. For generations, the local people believed that the massive boulders found in the middle of the fields were stones the giant threw during his ancient battles. In the 1800s, Jõgeva became the heart of the country's literary history. The small village of **Palamuse** was the setting for the first major local novel written in 1887, which captured the life of children in a country schoolhouse. Visiting the school today is like stepping into a storybook, with the old wooden desks and inkwells preserved exactly as they were over a hundred years ago when the region was a center for education and rural culture. The eastern edge of the county follows the shore of Lake **Peipus**, where a group called the Old Believers settled in the late 1600s. They fled religious changes in Russia to find peace on these shores. Bringing with them a unique culture of fishing and onion growing that still exists today. Driving through their long "ribbon villages" shows a lifestyle that has stayed the same for centuries, centered around the water and the seasonal harvests.
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