Location
State: Estonia
Region: Juuru Parish
County: Rapla
Parish: Kehtna
Other references to the location
Pae village, 1,4 km along the gravel road leading from the Juuru-Rapla highway to the South of the Pae village, in a deciduous forest between Sepa ja Lame farms.
Coordinates
lat=58.996314202382, lon=24.908067045766
58° 59′ 46″ N, 24° 54′ 29″ E
Description
Almost 10 ha of karst at the edge of a swamp with a lot of dolines, corries and small caves. Dolines are usually jagged, up to 1,5 m deep. On their slopes and bottoms there are crookedly positioned big pieces of limestone, crannies and small entrances to caves. There are some crannies and entrance holes also in the forest. The caves are up to several metres wide and up to 1 m high. In the Western part of the karst where part of the vege viltutation is missing there are a lot of corries in an area of about 1 ha. Corries are crannies and holes up to 0,3 metres deep that open to the ground and small limestone juts (result of the dissolving impact of precipitation) between them. In the karst area there is also a well-preserved oven for lime-burning.
Narrative
Some cup-marks and fissures in karstic areas have been considered the footprints and claw marks of Vanapagan, a mythological underworld ruler. According to legend, there was a city with iron gates in the Pae karst area and it sank underground. Later church bells were heard ringing. Vanapagan is one of the best-known mythological creatures in Estonian folklore. He is a cross between the Christian version of Satan and a simple-minded nature spirit. Limestone was quarried in the karst area in the past and a former lime kiln can be seen here.
Attraction
Very specific surface feature.
Availability
Hiking trail with trailhead on village road or parking lot.
Infrastructure, management, facilities
Parking lot, hiking trail. Parking for cars or bus.
Local info
Signposts, parking lot, decrepit information board, protected nature monument marker.
Capacity
up to 40
Publicity
Known
Legal Status
Private and state land, nature conservation
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