Narva

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Swedish Russian Estonian City of Narva

A travel journal to Narva by barcodex

Front sideMore Photos

Story of the city of Narva, located on eastern Estonian border, and that played a big role in the history of the region, being the strategic point of Swedish and Russian interests through the history.

  • 9 reviews
  • 17 photos

Swedish Russian Estonian City of NarvaBest of IgoUgo

Overview

Main highlights of Narva are its history, and its present. Narva has a strategic location and that's why it always was a desirable piece of land of all powers that fought for the control over the region. As a result, this became an important military and trade center. In present, the city is one of the biggest centers of so called "North-East" of Estonia, a place where the Russian minority is a majority, what gives its speciality. Visit a fortress for some history, and a market for some present.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Narva is not so big and you can use your feet if you are going to cross the city from one end to another. Or go to one of the sea-side suburbs by bus. Taxis are available and are cheap.

Narva FortressBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Front side
Nowadays a museum (which is worth visiting), Narva fortress was a strategic place for several armies in medieval times. Located on the top of high bank of Narova (Narva) river, it secured the city from the East. Fortress was originally built by german knights, who controlled the area before the Swedish era (XVI-XVII century). Swedes were interested in moving eastwards, and Narva was a perfect location for their expansion plans. They invested a lot into making Narva fortress strong, and they were really concerned to make Narva a second important city of Swedish Kingdom. However, their plans did not come true because of Russian expansion to the West, started by Peter the Great, founder of Saint Petersburg. In his turn, he also treated Narva as an important military and trade center, but government of new provinces was left in Reval, nowadays Tallinn.
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by barcodex on October 22, 2001

Narva Fortress
Close to the Border Narva, Estonia

Dark ParkBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

This is the place where you can relax and forget about the city noise. Name of the park was given because of the shady paths, where it is not hot even in the most sunny summer day. Some nice fountains and views to Narva river (and Russia on another bank of it) are there to make this destination even more attractive.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by barcodex on October 22, 2001

Dark Park
North to customs, bank of Narva river Narva, Estonia

Russian BorderBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Boundary is a River
It was difficult to classify where to put this journal entry. Since a lot of people cross the Estonian-Russian border every day, I decided to file it as a popular sight. Hehe. Surely you will not miss it when you are driving to or from Russia, but on the photos for this journal entry I will show you something that you will see only if you spend some time visiting the fortress, which provides you with some great views.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by barcodex on October 22, 2001

Russian Border
City Center Narva, Estonia

Narva JoesuuBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Sandy Beach
Narva Joesuu is a northern suburb of Narva, located on the coast of Finnish Gulf, and once famous resort, almost abandoned nowadays because of lack of investments and weird tourist policy. It is still a nice place where Narva inhabitants like to relax in. As you can see on in the photos, its quite romatic - sandy beach, coast that can be flat and can be rocky, pine trees, etc. And this is just 10 minutes by car away from the city center!
  • Member Rating 4 out of 5 by barcodex on October 22, 2001

Narva Joesuu
Aia 3, 29002 Narva-Jõesuu, Eesti Narva, Estonia
+372 035 99 529

LeninBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Lenin 1
It's like Lenin. Yes, Lenin. That famous genius of proletarian revolution, who was once so much admired and whose statues were then destroyed all over the world. This statue remained untouched, just removed from the central square of the city and put to the fortress to show some of recent history to city guests. You can take a picture of you and the most famous communist, just like we did (see the photos for this journal entry)
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by barcodex on October 22, 2001

Lenin
Fortress Narva, Estonia

Pushkin Street SightsBest of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Pushkin street"

Pushkin
Pushkin street is a main stret in Narva. If you did not know, Pushkin is a most famous Russian poet. Since Narva is almost completely Russian city (just 3% of Estonian population and some minor signs as street plates etc make it Estonian), it is not so surprising. This is a street where most of dining places, shops and nightlife places are located.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by barcodex on October 22, 2001

Pushkin Street Sights
Central Yerevan Narva, Estonia

Pine treeBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Pine trree
What's wonder in a pine tree, you can ask. And your question is reasonable, until you get a closer look at the tree. Did you ever see this kind of pine tree before? As you can see, colourful bands are tied to its branches for luck.
  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by barcodex on October 22, 2001

Pine tree
Narva Joesuu, northern suburb Narva, Estonia

Town HallBest of IgoUgo

Attraction

Town Hall
Town Hall is situated in the green area in the center of Narva, not much as expected. And its exterior is not so nice, actually it needs renovation. Built in XVIII century, it looks like it was not renovated since then. :(
  • Member Rating 2 out of 5 by barcodex on October 22, 2001

Town Hall
City Center Narva, Estonia

About the Writer

barcodex
barcodex
Tallinn, Estonia

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