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Founded: 14th centuryCategory: Castles and fortifications in Estonia
Historical period: Danish and Livonian Order (Estonia)
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The tower-fortress was built in the second half of the 14th century of local limestone. Tower-strongholds were built by vassals to protect roads and waterways and to protect themselves against peasant uprisings. Construction of such tower-strongholds increased after the failed St. George's Night uprising by peasants in 1343.
In 1986, the fortress was restored under the leadership of Vao sovkhoz. Exhibition on the I floor introduces the history of Vao Tower-Fortress and Manor, and the surrounding villages. The II floor is a medieval dwelling that includes the washing area (place for washing hands), and dansker (dry toilet). The current furnishing imitates the pristine appearance of the room. The windows are of beautiful stained glass. The staircase in the wall leading to the cellar adds mysticism to the place. The III floor is enlivened by paintings created by the artist E.Veermäe which depict people in medieval clothing.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.