The former owners of the Mäetaguse manor, the von Rosens, admire their former possessions from the clouds above, but their name lives on as a sign of continuity: the visitors of the manor hotel are greeted by a three-colored cat, lady Miisbeth von Rosen.
Of course, only if there is a small break in her sleep. It is known that if sleeping was an Olympic sport, cats would take all podium places.
Sometimes Miisbeth von Rosen’s schedule does not allow her to great guests, but please do not take it as a personal insult. On the contrary, watching the noble dame napping on the manor chair, perhaps you will take over a wonderful ability of cats to do only what they like, to be relaxed and feel happy. When, if not on vacation, to try to do the same?
Away from the noise of the city
The almost completely restored Mäetaguse estate complex is suitable for anyone who wants to get away from the city noise and relax. According to the portal of Estonian manors, in the current borders of Ida-Viru county there are 69 manors, most of them are neglected, and inexorable time has left its mark on them. Against this background, the Mäetaguse manor is a pleasant exception.
Miaetaguse manor was one of the largest estates in Virumaa, and its most famous landowner Otto Fabian von Rosen left a controversial mark in history. As a land councillor of Liivimaa, in 1739 he drew up a document on agrarian law, the so-called Rosen Declaration, which perpetuated the special position of the Baltic serfdom. On the one hand, von Rosen believed that the landowner should have full rights over both the peasant and his meager property; on the other hand, as a member of the Hernhurt fraternity, he supported the need for education of peasants and made it mandatory.
But Otto von Rosen did not affect the present appearance of the estate complex. The representative main building of the estate appeared on the site of a wooden manor house in the last year of the 18th century.
However, most of the more than ten outbuildings date back to the 19th century and have gained new content today. It is in them that the manor hotel is located: the restaurant is open in a historic stable-carriage shed, the accommodation wing in the mill and the greenhouse of the bathhouse, which was once called a conservatory. All three are built into one with a glass gallery and connected to the hotel reception.
The manor hotel intertwines the noble and peasant styles in a natural way. Elements of the Rosen coat of arms in the form of red roses have migrated to the motto; and the staff are dressed as Estonian peasants who serve guests in the landowner’s house. On the beautiful linen uniforms and blouses of the girls there are typical Northern Estonian brooches-buckles with a pattern taken from the book on national dress of Virumaa.
Food at the Rosen restaurant is largely prepared from local produce. In the first place, products are supplied by local farmers and fishermen.
Cooking as an Estonian
The Estonian cuisine does not try to invent exotic dishes but adheres to national traditions. The menu contains dishes that were traditionally served at the owner’s table. Even lemons and oranges were grown in the winter garden, and due to close ties with Russia, Russian cuisine was not despised here.
By the way, if we are talking about Russian cuisine, then one of the most popular classes offered at the manor hotel is a dumpling cooking fun class. And if the participants come from Moscow and St. Petersburg, then dumplings with an Estonian chef are made like Estonians cook. What is pelmeni in Estonian? Ordinary dumplings stuffed with minced meat, but they are served on a plate accompanied by mashed peas and spruce shoots, onion jam and glazed vegetables. For those who are afraid to get their hands dirty in flour, there is a chance to have a try at a music quiz – it is a pleasant variety during a seminar or a fascinating entertainment at a festive table.
The hotel pays a lot of attention to how to occupy their guests, the list includes a workshop on making beer, training on helping a person with a headache. You can walk to the Selisoo bog or play disco Golf near the estate. If you want – arrange a bridal shower in a private sauna with a Jacuzzi, and personally try to mix scrubs and masks from improvised ingredients, testing them between visits to the steam room.
Lovers of sauna can count on as many as nine different saunas – all of them are located in the bathing house and the back room of the sauna building. Thanks to the preserved photo, the building of the former greenhouse has a historical appearance, but instead of growing exotic fruits, it serves to improve the body. For the sake of the title of the warmest SPA in Estonia, the bathing house has worked hard, and the temperature inside the room is maintained at 30 degrees. That is, here first of all they do not think about swimmers, but about bathers.
The approach to cleanliness of water in the pool is uncompromising. The time of the coronavirus isolation was not wasted, but was used to repair the bathing house, so that the water could be even cleaner and the pool even more tempting.
First adult hotel?
The back room is a recent addition to the bathing house, and there are four saunas, a relaxation area with a Jacuzzi and sun beds. The construction of a cozy bath center in a glass-fronted greenhouse was a serious challenge, but the fabric ceiling and fringed curtains were a cozy addition to the non-standard interior.
For most of the week, the back room is given over to adult sauna visitors. It is not much left until the Mäetaguse manor hotel becomes the first hotel for adults in Estonia. This is the news that surfaced in social networks on April 1.
So was it an April fool’s joke or the truth? The hotel director, Terje Ratter confirmed that the image of the hotel for adults is the future, and they are slowly moving in this direction. But the peace and quiet of Mäetaguse is already very much in demand, and couples can enjoy each other’s company without prying eyes. And if the sight of each other bores, it makes sense to give food to the eyes, enjoying the view of a fully restored manor.
SIRLE SOMMER-KALDA
