Ungru manor and aircraft shed, Kiltsi, Estonia

Visited by Skkye 9.4.2014. After wandering around Ungru manor ruins we visited an old soviet hangar next to it. It was huge. I was trying to photograph it quickly since my company was getting little bored of urban exploration. I felt a little bit guilty of being so slow and tried to fix it upstairs - I literally ran from room to another to see everything. Somehow this shed felt really familiar, especially when walking (running) on the corridors I had a strong déjà vu -feeling. Now that I'm home I realised it reminded me of military barrack in Croatia we visited last spring. The same ascetic atmosphere, almost identical corridors and paint peeling off the walls. 

Soviet airport outbuildings and Ungru manor ruins, Kiltsi, Estonia

Visited by Skkye 9.4.2014. These places were actually in my guide book to Estonia and among the reasons why I wanted to bike to Haapsalu. There were a lot of signs telling not to go to the airport area but we chose to ignore them and run quickly inside the ruins to cover ourselves from potential guards. My friend was a little bit afraid of the ink bottle dark, wet and moldy cellars and didn't want to go there - probably he foreseed that there would be a pile of unidentified bones. Maybe a dog? The photo is quite unclear since the combination of crappy flashlight and lack of light but the skull is on the right corner of it.

Afterwards we went to see the ruins of Ungru manor. It was founded in 1523 and has a pretty tragic history. This is a direct speech from here:

" --- In 1830 Magnus de la Gardie bought the manor. After his death, Evald Ungern-Sternberg bought the manor. According to rumours, his son, count Ewald Adam Gustav Paul Constantin von Ungern-Sternberg had visited the renaissance style castle of Merseburg in Germany in the beginning of the last decade of the 19th century, where he fell in love with the daughter of the castle’s owner. When he proposed to her, the young lady claimed to be so fond of her father’s castle that she promised to stay there for the rest of her life. After that the count in love had promised to build exactly the same castle. Having received a promise from the lady to marry him as soon as the castle is ready, the man hurried back home, where in 1893 the construction begun.

In a couple of years the frame of the house and the roof were ready. Interior works took some longer time and they were almost completed when a message arrived informing about the death of the beloved lady. The count himself fell ill in 1908 during a trip to St.Petersburg where he died as well. According to his wish he was brought back to Haapsalu by train and then carried into the manor, where he spent, though already dead, his only night. Later he was buried in Hiiumaa, to his family’s burial plase in Korgessaare. --- "

Great manor house (Part 7), Pöytyä, Finland

This is the last post from this manor, which is the most beautiful abandoned house that I have visited so far. I'm so glad that we found this place. It has been an important manor in the cultural history of the area, like any big country house has been in this sparsely populated land. Being so old and historical, it made me think about my roots as a Finnish person, and somehow it also aroused a nationalistic pride in me (in a good way, like when being abroad), which I feel very seldom. But that was very touching indeed.

Great manor house (Part 6), Pöytyä, Finland

My last photos from the manor house. Upstairs was maybe my favourite part of the house. When we were downstairs there was signs of well-being and wealth everywhere and it was exciting because we have mostly been in more modest houses. But I think upstairs was more atmospheric and moving with its personal letters and invites to funerals, old educational and religious books, sewings and locked rooms which got my imagination to fly.

When we climbed up to the storehouse we faced a haunting scene: dozens of shining white cow skulls and bones. It was quite eerie especially because we didn't first identify which animal they were from. There was also cute red barrel sauna next to the house. It was locked so we weren't able to go in but for me it made the whole yard look much more sympathetic and less lonesome. I believe that this little barrel sauna has often helped to forget the sorrows and troubles of the day and offered comforting warmth in difficult times. Everybody should have a place like that and it made me a good feeling that people of that beautiful house had their own.