The 5 Best Things to do in Kihnu, Parnu County

You must go to the exciting Kihnu Museum when you visit the island. It like an anchor in preserving and introducing the cultural space of Kihnu, which has been entered in the UNESCO heritage list.The museum was founded in the former schoolhouse of Saarekula Village in 1974 and thoroughly renovated in 2009. You will find everything that concerns the everyday lives of people in the museum – tools, clothes, handicrafts, furniture. You will also find exhibitions that introduce famous Kihnu men, such as historian Theodor Saar, Captain Enn Uuetoa and silversmith Peeter Rooslaid, and the works of Kihnu nativists.

Kihnu Church, built in 1784, is one of the few orthodox churches converted from a Lutheran sacral building. Almost all Kihnu people converted to orthodoxy from 1846 to 1847, the Lutheran church was given to the orthodox congregation by order of Tsar Nicholas I and an onion dome was built on the bell tower. Inside the church, you can admire a simple but beautiful iconostasis that covers almost the entire width of the room. Useful information!The old Kihnu Church, which is really a chapel, was located on the northern tip of the island on a high sandy coast and according to a legend, it was destroyed in a fire during the Great Northern War.

Kihnu lighthouse situates on the most southern tip of Pitkana nose. Lighthouse was brought here in 1864 from England dismounted in pieces and was mounted back on the place. It is one of the four cast iron towers that are extant on our shores. Tower is white, conical shaped and equipped with lamp locker and balcony. The height of the light from the sea level is 31 m and from the ground 29 m.Unfortunately it is not possible to climb up the tower, but at the foot of lighthouse it will be comfy for you to lay on the grass and daydream in the sea wind!Interesting to know!Tower was built at the same time as Vormsi and Virtsu lighthouses and is similar to them from outside.

Kihnu island is a peculiar alloy of contemporary and the past. Proclaimed by UNESCO Kihnu culture space is living and functioning till nowadays. Kihnu women wear every day self woven traditional skirts (kort), already small children know Kihnu dances and songs and Kihnu dialect is taught in the school.The sea surrounding Kihnu island is low and stony, around the island there are a lot of little islets. Kihnu strait is the high importance gathering place for birds and nesting area for birds endangered in Europe.7 km long and 3,3 km large Kihnu island has perfect size for exploring it by bicycle!

The cemetery is as sacred for Kihnu people as the church. You go there quietly and never after the sun has set so you don't disturb the dead. Useful information!Famous Captain Enn Uuetoa or Kihnu Jonn, whose remains were brought from Denmark to Kihnu in 1992, is buried near the cemetery gates. Carpenter Karl Jerkwelt, a man from Saaremaa who worked on Kihnu Jonn's last ship Rock-City, is buried next to him.