Hundred Treasures of Estonia voting now open
The Estonian Heritage Board has opened eesti100aaret.ee portal, where it is possible to vote for the cultural and natural treasures of Estonia. The hundred treasures to receive the most votes will be featured in an interactive treasure hunting game that will be completed by the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.
Within the framework of the gift “Hundred treasures of Estonia” that was launched under the preparations for the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, the National Heritage Board collected peoples’ proposals on meaningful places located all over Estonia in March and April. A total of 250 proposals were submitted out of which 150 special locations were selected with the assistance of experts in the different fields of cultural monuments to become the subject of a public voting.
A member of the jury, Inspector-General of Art Monuments of the National Heritage Board Linda Lainvoo said that it was extremely difficult to choose between all those wonderful and diverse treasures that people had proposed. “Finally, the decisive force turned out to be an emotion, a kind of indescribable feeling, which emerged while viewing the pictures of these places, as well as reading and thinking about them. Most certainly, the preferences of the jury members are subjective and the choice can be regarded as only one of many possible. It is important that all Estonians would have their own treasures and it is irrelevant whether these made it to the mentioned list or not,” Lainvoo added.
People can now vote for their favorite places, buildings and objects at eesti100aaret.ee. Each entry has been supplied with a small introduction on why it is meaningful and special. "This way, it is possible for all those interested to see the treasures at an early stage and choose their favorites while travelling in Estonia in summer,” Adviser on Public and External Relations of the National Heritage Board Margit Pulk said.
Kõpu orthodox church and schoolhouse (Photo: Hiiumaamudeliklubi/Wikimedia Commons)
A multilingual interactive game will be completed on the basis of the hundred treasures selected as a result of the public voting, offering a playful possibility to discover the special places and objects of Estonia, their stories and legends.
The aim of the initiative is to find significant places, which have not received wider recognition so far, but deserve to be highlighted and introduced to the visitors. Organizers hope that the initiative will help to rediscover the Estonian cultural heritage landscape.
Estonia’s ‘King of Stones’ – the Pahkla boulder (Photo: Kadri Niinsalu/Wikimedia Commons)
Editor: M. Oll