Estonia's biggest island has always had an independent streak and was usually the last part of the country to fall to invaders. Just a few kilometres south of Hiiumaa, Saaremaa is a thinly populated place of unspoiled rural landscapes. Farmsteads nestle among forests that cover half the island.
Kuressaare, Saaremaa's capital, is the site of a 13th century castle founded as the Bishop of Ösel-Wiek's island base. Viidumäe, west of Kuressaare, is a botanical reserve, where the favourable climate and conditions make it home to rare plant species such as the blunt-flowered rush.
