Viljandi () is a city and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 16 658 in 2026.

Culture

Viljandi is sometimes called the cultural capital of Estonia, partly due to the Viljandi Culture Academy being located there.

Ugala Theatre since 1920, Viljandi has had the Ugala drama theatre. The tradition of open-air performances dates back to the same year.

Viljandi Puppet Theatre

Sakala Centre

Viljandi Library built in 2002 is also a venue for exhibitions, meetings with famous people, culture seminars, etc.

Kondas Centre is dedicated to Estonian naïve artist Paul Kondas. The center hosts exhibitions of representatives of

naïvism and is also a meeting place for artistic people.

Estonian Traditional Music Centre located in the Traditional Music Storehouse, a restored store house on Kirsimägi in the Castle ruins. The mission of the center is to promote and teach traditional music.

thumb|Viljandi Folk Music Festival

Demographics

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|+Ethnic composition 1922-2021

! rowspan="2" |Ethnicity

! colspan="2" |1922

! colspan="2" |1934

! colspan="2" |1941

! colspan="2" |1959

! colspan="2" |1970

! colspan="2" |1979

! colspan="2" |1989

! colspan="2" |2011

! colspan="2" |2021

|-

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

!amount

!%

|-

|Estonians

|8667

|92.2

|10998

|93.3

|10890

|98.0

|15422

|86.1

|17971

|86.3

|19469

|87.0

|20093

|87.1

|18995

|91.5

|16443

|94.1

|16230

|94.1

|-

|Russians

|124

|1.32

|204

|1.73

|119

|1.07

| -

| -

|1912

|9.19

|2013

|9.00

|1899

|8.23

|1085

|5.23

|648

|3.71

|508

|2.95

|-

|Ukrainians

| -

| -

|2

|0.02

| -

| -

| -

| -

|151

|0.73

|212

|0.95

|363

|1.57

|194

|0.93

|128

|0.73

|169

|0.98

|-

|Belarusians

| -

| -

| -

| -

| -

| -

| -

| -

|50

|0.24

|90

|0.40

|100

|0.43

|55

|0.26

|35

|0.20

|33

|0.19

|-

|Finns

| -

| -

|20

|0.17

|12

|0.11

| -

| -

|373

|1.79

|381

|1.70

|344

|1.49

|241

|1.16

|105

|0.60

|93

|0.54

|-

|Jews

|131

|1.39

|121

|1.03

|0

|0.00

| -

| -

|22

|0.11

|16

|0.07

|15

|0.06

|6

|0.03

|8

|0.05

|3

|0.02

|-

|Latvians

| -

| -

|41

|0.35

|17

|0.15

| -

| -

|26

|0.12

|35

|0.16

|33

|0.14

|8

|0.04

|3

|0.02

|14

|0.08

|-

|Germans

|332

|3.53

|345

|2.93

| -

| -

| -

| -

| -

| -

|54

|0.24

|49

|0.21

|10

|0.05

|7

|0.04

|17

|0.10

|-

|Tatars

| -

| -

|0

|0.00

| -

| -

| -

| -

| -

| -

|9

|0.04

|14

|0.06

|8

|0.04

|6

|0.03

|6

|0.03

|-

|Poles

| -

| -

|13

|0.11

|17

|0.15

| -

| -

| -

| -

|20

|0.09

|20

|0.09

|7

|0.03

|8

|0.05

|11

|0.06

|-

|Lithuanians

| -

| -

|6

|0.05

|1

|0.01

| -

| -

|19

|0.09

|19

|0.08

|30

|0.13

|21

|0.10

|15

|0.09

|13

|0.08

|-

|unknown

|0

|0.00

|6

|0.05

|2

|0.02

|0

|0.00

|0

|0.00

|0

|0.00

|0

|0.00

|68

|0.33

|9

|0.05

|22

|0.13

|-

|other

|142

|1.51

|32

|0.27

|51

|0.46

|2494

|13.9

|290

|1.39

|50

|0.22

|120

|0.52

|58

|0.28

|58

|0.33

|126

|0.73

|-

!Total

!9396

!100

!11788

!100

!11109

!100

!17916

!100

!20814

!100

!22368

!100

!23080

!100

!20756

!100

!17473

!100

!17245

!100

|}

Geography

left|thumb|220px|Viljandi Culture School

right|thumb|220px|Lake Paala (previously called the Valuoja reservoir) in Viljandi

The city is situated on the north-western shore of Lake Viljandi, which lies in the primeval valley. Green zones cover 27% of the city's area. Public green areas cover about 418 ha, including 92 ha of parks. The largest is the nature-protected Castle Park, but also Valuoja Park, Kiigepark, Uueveski Park are worth mentioning. The main tree species are oak, lime, birch, and pine. The grandest tree-lined avenues are Maramaa (named after August Maramaa, twice the mayor of Viljandi) and Lembitu avenues. Among foreign species, American larch can be found in Köler avenue and Douglas fir in Uus street.

Economy

There were 871 businesses in Viljandi on 1 May 2005, 50% of them in service, 45% in trade, and 5% in production areas. The major industries represented are the construction materials industry, textile industry, and food and bakery industry. In 2005, the Investor of the Year title was awarded to the waterworks operator AS Viljandi Veevärk, the Employer award to AS Toom Tekstiil, and the Sponsor of the Year title to AS Viljandi Metall. Unemployment rate among the working-age population in Viljandi was about 3%.

Transport

thumb|right|[[Viljandi railway station]]

The city is served by the Viljandi railway station, which was opened in 1897. Government-owned passenger train operator Elron runs multiple daily trains to the capital Tallinn. From 1897 to 1973, an additional narrow-gauge track connected the city to Southern border town of Mõisaküla and the Western coastal city of Pärnu.

National Road 92, running from Tartu to Kilingi-Nõmme, passes through the city.

Viljandi Airfield (ICAO: EEVI), operated by the local flight club, is located in Päri, Viljandi Parish, but does not have any regular passenger flights. During the Soviet occupation, Aeroflot used to operate Tartu-Viljandi-Pärnu-Kingissepa (now Kuressaare) services using Antonov An-2 biplanes.

Education

There are 7 schools and 7 kindergartens in Viljandi, a vocational secondary school and a university college. Special interests are catered for by a variety of institution providing extracurricular studies and activities in such fields as sports, music etc. The Youth Centre of Viljandi County is successful in offering various information and consulting services.

Schools in Viljandi

Primary Schools

  • Viljandi Jakobsoni Kool
  • Viljandi Kesklinna Kool
  • Viljandi Paalalinna Kool
  • Viljandi Kaare Kool
  • Viljandi Vaba Waldorfkool

Grammar Schools

  • Viljandi Gümnaasium
  • Viljandi Täiskasvanute Gümnaasium

Vocational education

Vocational education can be acquired at Viljandi Joint Vocational Secondary School.

Higher education

Higher and applied higher education can be acquired at Viljandi Culture Academy a college of the University of Tartu.

Extracurricular educational institutions

  • Viljandi Music School
  • Viljandi Sports School
  • Viljandi Art School
  • Viljandi Youth Hobby Centre

Sports

There are sports events in Viljandi for both top athletes and amateurs. Family sports events, Sunday skiing trips, cycling tours in spring and autumn are very popular. In the city there are 53 sports clubs, a large sports hall and the new sports hall of Maagümnaasium. Also, the country's first artificial speed skating oval was opened in 2014. Soon, the jogging and cycling track around Lake Viljandi will be completed. A new skateboarding and roller-skating area has been built in Männimäe. At the lakeside are tennis courts and the city stadium.

Several races are held in Viljandi – around Lake Viljandi and Lake Paala and up and down the Trepimägi stairs. The longest tradition – the race around Lake Viljandi has been organised since 1928. This race takes place annually on 1 May, with the number of participants being about 1300 in the recent years. The winners' names are cut into stone columns. The legendary Hubert Pärnakivi, whose monument is also a tribute to the race, was an 11-time winner of the race.

Other popular fields of sport in Viljandi are handball, football, volleyball, basketball, wrestling, archery and rowing.

Legends

Boatman of Viljandi

Often the popular song is sung about the Boatman of Viljandi or the legend of him is told. Long-long ago, as a young man he had once taken a young girl across the lake on a summer evening and fallen hopelessly in love with the girl's blue eyes. Nobody knows what happened on the lake, but on the other side, the girl just waved him good-bye and left... However, the Boatman, a grey old man now, is said to row on the lake to this day, longing to see those wonderful blue eyes again.

According to another story, it was a boatman from Gauja who had dedicated a song to his loved one. As the young woman had moved near Viljandi, the song had changed, too.

International relations

Viljandi as an historic Hanseatic town is a member of the international City League the Hanse.

Twin towns – sister cities

Viljandi is twinned with:

  • Ahrensburg, Germany
  • Cumberland, United States
  • Eslöv, Sweden
  • Frostburg, United States
  • Härnösand, Sweden
  • Kretinga, Lithuania
  • Porvoo, Finland
  • Telavi, Georgia
  • Ternopil, Ukraine
  • Valmiera, Latvia
  • Thirlmere, Australia

Events

  • Viljandi Folk Music Festival a music festival with a focus on European folk music. It is traditionally held in the end of July. In the year 2006, over 24,000 people attended the concerts. As such, it is the largest annual music festival in Estonia. Due to this, Viljandi is sometimes called the Estonian Capital of Folk Music. In 2026 Viljandi folk had 38 000 visits.
  • Early Music Festival
  • Notafe Festival – originally 'Noore Tantsu (Young Dance) Festival' : Annual experimental theater festival founded in 1993, traditionally held in mid July.
  • Winter Folk Dance Festival
  • "Theatre in Suitcase" puppet theatre festival
  • Rock Ramp Festival. In 2013, the 7th festival was held. In 2014, last Rock Ramp took place.
  • Viljandi Hanseatic Days are traditionally held in June every year. The program covers different activities and events like a Hanseatic fair, where people can buy and sell traditional goods. The Viljandi Hanseatic Days also offer concerts and live performances from local and foreign performers. Different workshops are opened. Medieval sports games take place by the Lake Viljandi.
  • International Hanseatic Days will be held in Viljandi from 2015.
  • Grand Race around Lake Viljandi

Notable residents

  • Jaak Aab (born 1960), Estonian politician
  • Ülle Aaskivi (1950–2007), Estonian politician
  • Friedrich Akel (1871–1941), Estonian politician
  • Liisa Aibel (born 1972), Estonian actress
  • August Alle (1890–1952), Estonian author
  • Stefan Airapetjan (born 1997), singer
  • Meelis Atonen (born 1966), Estonian politician
  • Franz Burchard Dörbeck (1799–1835), Baltic-German caricaturist and painter
  • August Eller (1907–1990), Estonian chess player
  • Dionysius Fabricius (1564–1617), chronicler and cleric during the Polish rule
  • Väino Ilus (born 1929), Estonian writer
  • Carl Robert Jakobson (1841–1882), Estonian politician and journalist
  • Jaak Joala (1950–2014), Estonian singer
  • Kaido Kama (born 1957), Estonian politician
  • Aksel Kipper (1907–1984), Estonian astrophysicist
  • Triinu Kivilaan (born 1989), former bassist of the band Vanilla Ninja
  • August Kitzberg (1855–1927), Estonian writer
  • Ragnar Klavan (born 1985), Estonian footballer
  • Johan Laidoner (1884–1953), Estonian general and statesman
  • Mart Laar (born 1960), Estonian historian and politician
  • Peter Leoke (1892–1973), Estonian publisher
  • Karin Luts (1904–1993), Estonian artist
  • Mait Malmsten (born 1972), Estonian actor
  • Karol Mets (born 1993), Estonian footballer
  • Uno Naissoo (1928–1980), Estonian composer and music pedagogue
  • Annely Peebo (born 1971), Estonian opera singer
  • Eric Pehap (1912–1981), abstract artist
  • Sander Post (born 1984), Estonian footballer
  • Joakim Puhk (1888–1942), Estonian entrepreneur and sports official
  • Viktor Puskar (1889–1943), Estonian military commander
  • Tõnis Rätsep (born 1947), Estonian actor, musician, playwright and educator
  • Elisabeth Schiemann (1881–1972), German geneticist and crop scientist
  • Helir-Valdor Seeder (born 1964), Estonian politician
  • Indrek Taalmaa (born 1967), Estonian actor
  • Joonas Tamm (born 1992), Estonian footballer
  • Jaan Tätte (born 1964), Estonian dramatist, actor and singer
  • Jaan Tõnisson (1868–1941), Estonian politician and journalist

<gallery>

File:Viljandi panoramic.jpg|Panoramic view of the town

File:Viljandi Pauluse kirik 31-08-2012.jpg|St. Paul's church (Pauluse kirik)

File:Viljandi castle southern end.jpg|Viljandi castle. Ruins at the southern end of the hill with Lake Viljandi in the background

File:Viljandi 2010 002.jpg|Viljandi Folk Music Festival held annually within the castle ruins

File:Viljandi vanalinna muinsuskaitseala, Hiire ja Johan Laidoneri plats tänava nurk.JPG|Viljandi Town Heritage Conservation Area

File:Elamu Viljandis Tallinna 16.jpg|Main building of University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy on Tallinna tänav 16 in Viljandi

File:Viljandi mõisa peahoone.jpg|Viljandi manor main building

File:Grand Hotel in winter.JPG|Grand Hotel Viljandi

File:Viljandi maagümnaasiumi hoone.jpg|Main building of Viljandi Gümnaasium

</gallery>

See also

  • Lake Viljandi
  • Viljandi castle
  • University of Tartu Viljandi Culture Academy

References

  • Heinrici (ca. 1187–1259) Chronicon Livoniae see also Chronicle of Henry of Livonia
  • Viljandi Tourist Information Centre
  • Festival Viljandi Folk Music Festival
  • Viljandi this week, Nädal Viljandis, all events in Viljandi
  • Awarded "EDEN - European Destinations of Excellence" non traditional tourist destination 2008