Dr F R Kreutzwald Memorial Museum


Võru’s most interesting museum is the house where Dr Kreutzwald, the physician and scholar who compiled Estonia's national epic Kalevipoeg, lived and worked as a doctor from 1833 to 1877. Built in 1793, it's one of the oldest houses in town, with a lovely garden at the rear. Displays cover the doctor's life and career focusing, naturally, on his lasting achievement: the construction of Kalevipoeg ('The Son of Kalev', 1861), from his deep research of Estonian folk tales.

One of the outbuildings is devoted to editions of Kalevipoeg published in a surprising variety of languages (including Mandarin and Hindi), alongside book illustrations and other art inspired by the story.

There’s also a monument to the writer in the park at the bottom of Katariina allee, near the lake.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Võru County Museum

0.25 MILES

Don't be put off by this museum's ugly exterior – its exhibits on regional history and culture from the Stone Age to the present day are definitely worth…

2. St Catherine’s Orthodox Church

0.31 MILES

Like its nearby Lutheran contemporary, Võru's main Orthodox church is dedicated to St Catherine as a nod to the town's founder, Russian Empress Catherine…

3. St Catherine’s Lutheran Church

0.34 MILES

Dedicated to the early Christian martyr Catherine but named in honour of Tsarina Catherine the Great (whose largesse paid for it), Võru's main Lutheran…

4. St Mary’s Lutheran Church

8.2 MILES

Rõuge’s whitewashed stone church dates from 1730, replacing a 16th-century church destroyed in the Great Northern War. Inside, the focal point is the…

5. Suur Munamägi

9.28 MILES

Mentioned in the Estonian creation epic Kalevipoeg, the modest 318m-high Suur Munamägi ('Great Egg Hill') is the highest peak in the Baltics (although the…

6. Luhasoo Nature Reserve

14.74 MILES

Set in untouched swampland straddling the border with Latvia (just outside the boundaries of Haanja Nature Park), this 800-hectare reserve encompasses…

7. Vastseliina Episcopal Castle

15.62 MILES

Strikingly set on a bluff above the Piusa River in western Setomaa, the photogenic ruins of one of Estonia's greatest medieval strongholds and places of…

8. Obinitsa Seto Museum

16.61 MILES

With locally woven textiles in traditional patterns, everyday artefacts from Seto households, presentations on Seto music and folklore, and interesting…