In October, three bright yellow signs appeared in Narva, highlighting the city’s record-breaking landmarks: the Narva defensive structures — the best-preserved fortification system in Estonia; the Krenholm Manufacturing Company — the largest industrial complex in 19th-century Europe; and the Narva Reservoir — the largest artificial lake in the country.

 

The signs, shaped like elongated vertical drops or map markers with an empty space in the center that creates a “window” effect, were installed as part of the project “Marking Estonia’s Record-Breaking Sites in Ida-Virumaa.” Similar signs have been placed throughout the county. In addition, so-called “gates” bearing the inscription IDA-VIRU will be installed to welcome visitors arriving from Tallinn in Purtses, from Tartu in Rannapungerja, as well as at the Narva railway station and the port of Narva-Jõesuu.

 

Further work will be done to tidy up the areas around the installed signs and add information boards so that visitors can learn more about the history of each site.

 

At present, 19 record-breaking sites have been marked, inviting people to explore, take photos, and share their “record moments.”

 

The initiative to mark record-breaking sites originated from a study conducted by the University of Tartu in the spring and summer of 2020, which confirmed that Ida-Virumaa is the most record-rich region in Estonia. The study identified 34 record locations in total.

 

As part of the project, an adventure game related to the records has also been created — in fact, two adventure games: one for the northern and another for the southern part of Ida-Virumaa.

 

The project “Marking Estonia’s Record-Breaking Sites in Ida-Virumaa” is co-financed under a program supporting the implementation of county development strategies.

 

More information and a map of the record sites: https://idaviru.ee/rekordpaigad