ESTONIA

ESTONIA / EESTI.

Suur Munamägi Hill and Tower.
Stamp issued on 17.07.1999.
Face value: 5.20 Estonian kroon.
Design: Jaan Saar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 506,450 copies.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 375.
- Michel No. 348.
- Scott No. 365.
- StampWorld No. 381.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 336.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 339.

Suur Munamägi ("Great Egg Mountain") is the highest peak in Estonia (and the Baltic states), reaching 318 m (1,043 ft) above sea level. It is located near the village of Haanja, in Võru County in the south-eastern corner of Estonia, close to the borders of both Latvia and Russia. The landscape around the peak (the Haanja Upland) is gently hilly. On the top of the hill is the Suure Munamäe vaatetorn (“Suur Munamägi Tower”), opened on July 19, 1925 and rebuilt of ferrocement in 1939 with a height of 25.7 m (84 ft). During the Second World War it was not seriously harmed and the repair was made in 1955. In 1969 an additional floor was built at the top of the tower and the staircase was modified. The tower was now 29.1 m (95 ft) high. The view from the height of 346.7 m (1,137 ft) is 50 km (31 mi) in radius. A renovation project of the tower was started in 1998 by Haanja parish, and on July 24, 2005 the renovated observation tower of Suur Munamägi was festively opened. Previously there were other smaller towers in the same place, built in 1812 and 1870.