- Kesselaid
Kesselaid (also Kessulaid, or diminutively Kessu. German: "Schildau") is a small island in the
Baltic Sea belonging to the country ofEstonia . Its coordinates are coord|58|37|48|N|23|26|29|E| [ [http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/estonia/map/m3614129/kesselaid.html Traveljournals.net] ] Together with neighbouring islandsMuhu ,Viirelaid ,Võilaid andSuurlaid it formsMuhu Parish (Estonian: "Muhu vald") - the rural municipality withinSaare County , Estonia.Kesselaid lies in the in the Suur Väin strait, between the Estonian island of Muhu (3.4 kilometers away) and the Estonian mainland (4 km away). The island has an area of 1.7 sq. km. The sea between Muhu and Kesselaid and is at 22 metres at its deepest point. The highest point on Kesselaid is 15.6 m above sea level. Since 1938, the 7 to 8 feet high cliffs of Kesselaid have been designated a nature reserve. [ [http://www.virtsu.ee/artiklid/2004_11.html Uudo, Timm. "Kesselaiu maastikukaitseala – pool sajandit unustuses"] ]
Kesselaid was first described in print in 1644 by in the Swedish maritime book "Een siöbook som innehåller siöfarten om i Östersiön" by
Johan Månsson . Kesselaid had been inhabited by ethnicEstonians for centuries but began heavy colonization by German settlers in the 16th Century. In 1807 Kesselaid was sold to the Baltic German noble Jacob Friedrich von Helwig. By the end of the 1930s there were still 35 permanent residents on the island. [Luha, Artur: "Kesselaid". Tallinn, 1940] Currently, the island is uninhabited. [ [http://www.virtsu.ee/artiklid/2004_11.html Uudo, Timm. "Kesselaiu maastikukaitseala – pool sajandit unustuses"] ]Today, in summer Kesselaid is partly used as pasture and grazing land for cattle and goats. It has also become an excursion destination for nature tourists. On the island, 16 species of
orchid s are counted. [ [http://www.virtsu.ee/artiklid/2004_11.html Uudo, Timm. "Kesselaiu maastikukaitseala – pool sajandit unustuses"] ] From the island of Muhu, wild boar and elk occasionally swim to Kesselaid. A lighthouse was first built Kesselaid in 1885. The current, fully automated lighthouse dates to 1994. [ [http://www.saared.ee/tt/kesselaid.htm Eesti Saarte Kogu: Kesselaid Lighthouse] ]References
External links
* [http://www.saared.ee/tt/kesselaid.htm Eesti Saarte Kogu: Images of the Kesselaid and the Kesselaid Lighthouse]
ee also
List of islands of Estonia
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