The story of Jägala Waterfall

Listen for the roar before you see it. Jägala is the largest natural waterfall in Estonia, about 50 metres wide and about 8 metres high, and also the most powerful, pouring 12.8 cubic metres of water every second. In spring floods the flow can reach 200 cubic metres a second, while in winter the cascade stops and freezes over.

The water drops from the Baltic Cliff, a limestone edge formed between 1.5 and 2 billion years ago, yet the waterfall itself is young, about 3,000 years old. As the river wore away the edge, the falls retreated by up to 17 centimetres a year, carving a valley 280 metres long and 13 metres deep. Its old folk name was Joarüngas, and some think the waterfall was worshipped here around 1240; maps from 1688 hint at a water mill.

The place also carries a dark memory: in 1942 the Nazis set up the Jägala concentration camp here, where an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Jews were killed.