At the Northeast corner of Estonia, bordering Russia, lies the city of Narva. This area was first settled in between 5,000 and 4,000 B.C. and was a critical trading center. By the 14th century, Denmark possessed the land known as Estonia. After a few conflicts with Russia, the Danes had a castle built in Narva to defend it from invaders. By 1345, the city of Narva obtained Lübeck City Rights to become a free city to establish their own local government. [Lübeck City Rights allowed a city to be free of royal control by vassals, dukes or other aristocratic privilege]
The next year Denmark sold it's Northern Estonian lands to the Livonian Order and so Narva remained under their control until the 1558 when it was taken by Russia during the Livonian War. Later on, in 1581, Sweden conquered Narva. Under Swedish rule the city underwent many refinements and the defence structures at Narva were strengthened and refortified. It became a thriving center for commerce. However, by 1704, Russia recaptured Narva during The Great Northern War.
During the middle of the 19th century, Narva became a beehive of business and trade and became the most industrialized city in all of Estonia, boasting more workers than the capitol city of Tallinn.
In the 20th century, Narva, once again, became a prize to be won or destroyed. By 1941, Germany had invaded, and Narva had escaped major damage. In 1944, however, a Soviet-led air invasion bombed Narva and destroyed 98% of the town. It became a closed city and occupants who had evacuated were not allowed to return until after the war. Why, you ask? The Soviets had planned on turning Narva into a secret uranium processing plant and only workers from Russia were allowed to move in.
In modern times, 1991 was a banner year for Estonia as they reestablished their independence from the the Soviet Union and once again, Narva became a border city. Over 90% of the Narva population speak Russian and less than half are Estonian citizens.
Americans are relative babies when it comes to history. Living here has opened my eyes to places and events I had never heard of before. My regret is not having the time to see it all. Always appreciate your history. Repeat it often lest it be forgotten.
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| One of several canon used for defence |
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| Large castle walls across the Narva River |
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| Cute Russian posing for me |
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| Surviving bells from churches that were destroyed |
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| Looking across the river from the old to the "not as old" |
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| Just a mandatory selfie with history in the background |
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| An old, decomposing boat anchor |
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| Not too sure what this is about, but it looked cool |
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| Found this classic Estonian mill on our way back to Tallinn. |
