Pärnu Museum

Western Estonia & the Islands


This museum covers 11,000 years of the Pärnu region's history, from prehistoric relics, right up to a reconstruction of a Soviet-era apartment. Pride of place goes to the 8000-year-old 'Stone-Age Madonna', the oldest sculpture yet found in the Baltics or Scandinavia. Temporary exhibitions are regularly staged, doubling the price of full-access tickets (if you choose to see them).


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Western Estonia & the Islands attractions

1. Town Hall

0.11 MILES

This 1797 neoclassical building now houses the tourist office and a small gallery space. Also note the half-timbered 'Citizen's Residence', dating from…

2. St Catherine’s Orthodox Church

0.12 MILES

Built in 1768, this superb baroque church is named after Russian empress Catherine the Great, while also name-checking the early Christian martyr. If it's…

3. St Elizabeth’s Lutheran Church

0.21 MILES

Consecrated in 1750, this dignified, rust-coloured Lutheran church was named for Russian Empress Yelizaveta Petrovna, who gifted Pärnu's Lutherans 8000…

4. Tallinn Gate

0.27 MILES

The outline of the 17th-century, star-shaped Swedish ramparts that once surrounded old Pärnu can still be discerned on maps. The one remaining section and…

5. Museum of New Art

0.41 MILES

Pärnu's former Communist Party headquarters now houses one of Estonia's edgiest cultural spaces, established in 1992 as the country's first museum of…

6. Pärnu Beach

0.93 MILES

Pärnu’s long, broad, sandy beach – sprinkled with volleyball courts, pop-up bars, cafes and changing cubicles – is the city’s main draw in summer. A…

7. St Nicholas' Orthodox Church

25.73 MILES

The islanders are among the minority of ethnic Estonians who adhere to the Russian Orthodox religion. This pretty little church at the centre of the…

8. Kihnu Museum

25.75 MILES

You can learn more about Kihnu Jõnn (the locally famous skipper who sailed all the world's oceans) and the island's unique history and culture at this…