Suur Munamägi

Where is Suur Munamägi?

Suur Munamägi is part of the Haanja Uplands.

You will find it in: Estonia.

Summit: 57.714° N, 27.059° E

The story behind it

The name means big egg hill, and from a distance the shape really does look like an egg lying in the woods. Ice made this landscape: when the great glaciers melted, they left behind heaps of sand, gravel and clay, and the hills of Haanja are the tallest of those heaps. Spruce and pine trees now grow over the whole dome, which means there is nothing to see from the ground at the very top. That is why an observation tower was built there: from its platform the view reaches over endless forest, small lakes and farm roofs, and in clear weather even into the neighbouring countries. In winter families come with sledges and skis, in summer with bicycles. Estonians are fond of this modest hill and treat it as a proper mountain.

Find it on the globe

Suur Munamägi is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.