Kuressaare

Crusaders of the Sword Brethren conquered Saaremaa, then known as Ösel, in 1227, and its western and southern parts became part of the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek the following year. The bishop's castle at Kuressaare is first documented in the 1380s, and a town grew up around it under the German name Arensburg, from the Latin arx aquilae, the eagle's castle, which still appears on the town's coat of arms. In 1559 the bishop sold his lands to the King of Denmark, whose brother Magnus won the town its civic charter in 1563, and the island became Danish in 1572.

Under the Treaty of Brömsebro Saaremaa passed to Sweden in 1645, and the Swedes built the town hall, the weigh house and the harbour storehouse and strengthened the fortress. During the Great Northern War plague struck and Russian troops burned the town in 1710; Russia annexed the island in 1721. In the 19th century curative mud found near the town turned it into a spa resort, with its first mud spa built in 1840 and sanatoriums and boarding houses following.

German forces occupied the island in 1917, and Kuressaare became the capital of Saare County in independent Estonia. In 1941 Soviet forces executed at least 90 civilians in the castle yard. From 1944 the whole island was a closed border zone, and from 1952 to 1988 the town was renamed Kingissepa. Since 1991 it has become a resort again, with new spas built and its historic buildings restored.

Kuressaare's cultural life is strongly seasonal. The Saaremaa Opera Days, held each July since 1999, bring a temporary opera house into the castle courtyard and are the oldest opera festival in Estonia. The Kuressaare Chamber Music Days have run since 1995 and the Maritime Festival since 1998, the Castle Days fill the grounds with knights' tournaments every summer, and on summer Sundays instrumental concerts are played in the castle park's band shell.

The castle itself is the town's emblem and home of the Saaremaa Museum, grown from a research society founded in 1865, and its yard was the scene of the killings of 1941. The castle park and the historicist Kursaal recall the 19th-century resort, when visitors came for mud cures.

The juniper is one of the symbols of the island. In 2000 almost 98 per cent of the town's residents were Estonians. The football club FC Kuressaare carries the town's name in national competition.

About 13,200 people lived in Kuressaare at the start of 2024. The population peaked at about 16,200 in 1989 and has declined steadily since.

As the seat of Saare County and of Saaremaa Municipality, the town is the island's centre for government, schools, shops and health care. Tourism is a mainstay: about two-thirds of visitors are mainland Estonians, and most of the rest come from Finland, Sweden and Latvia. Dolomite, perhaps the island's most famous natural resource, forms the town hall's front steps. Kuressaare Airport, the only airport on Saaremaa, links the town with Tallinn all year round.

The rhythm of the year is sharp. In summer the town fills with visitors, festivals and yachts in the harbour, and the island's roads carry ferry traffic. In winter the spas keep a steady stream of guests, but Kuressaare is quiet, dark early and largely given back to its residents, who live in the old streets near the centre and in outer districts such as Roomassaare.

Kuressaare eats from the Estonian table, with the sea close at hand. Baltic herring, räim, the national fish, and sprats, kilu, are staples, and kiluvõileib, an open sandwich of spiced salted sprats with a slice of boiled egg, is a classic of the cold table. Rosolje, a salad of beetroot, potato and herring, belongs to the same tradition.

Black rye bread, leib, accompanies almost every savoury meal, and rye, barley, pork, fish, potatoes and dairy products have long been the staples of Estonian cooking. Mulgikapsad, sauerkraut with pork and pearl barley, can be considered an Estonian national food, and kama, a dish of milled roasted pea, barley, rye and oat flour soaked in milk or buttermilk, is a traditional dessert. Kringel, a cardamom-scented sweet bread, and curd buns go with coffee in the town's cafés.

Locally brewed beer is the usual drink with food. Most of the town's restaurants and cafés sit around the old town square, along Lossi Street and near the castle park and harbour, and in summer their terraces stay busy through the long evenings.