Discovering Small Settlements Next to Russian Border

During my trip to eastern Estonia last summer I also decided to go to one of the easternmost points of the country. There is a small village named Vasknarva that I had never visited before and it is situated right next to Russia, over the river about 100 meters away.

First off I decided to check out Vasknarva orthodox church. The first building there was built in 1818 and the rest was built and finished in 1873.

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I took a short walk around the church inside the walls.

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Like around most churches, you can find a cemetery in the churchyard.

Otherwise in Vasknarva, there is not much to see. The village itself has some small homes and one small food store, which looks quite a poor area overall. There is one place more I wanted to check out though.

Vasknarva castle of the order ruins. The castle was built in 1349 but was destroyed in the same year during the war. In 1427–1442 the castle was built again in the same place. Of course, the castle was destroyed once again in 1558 during a war when Russians invaded the place. It was restaurated by the start of the 17th century. Now it still sits there but in ruin. In 2021 extensive excavations happened in the place and most of the ruin was uncovered.

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Saw some US tourists there checking the place out. I wonder how they happened to come in such a random place really.

Right next to the castle is a river and on the opposite shore is Russia, the border runs in a middle of the river.

Here is a photo over the river to the country of dictator Putin.

Here is a border pole. Says the Republic of Estonia on it.

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