Country Estonia Established 1938 Postal code 92401 to 92420 Area 4.5 km² Local time Sunday 8:14 PM Number of airports 1 | County Hiiu County Time zone EET (UTC+2) Area code(s) (+372) 46 Population 3,017 (2014) Municipality Hiiu Parish | |
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Weather -2°C, Wind W at 6 km/h, 83% Humidity Points of interest Hiiumaa Muuseum, Kärdla kirik, Kärdla rand | ||
Kärdla ([ˈkærˑ'dlɑ]) (Swedish: Kärrdal, German: Kertel) is the only town on the island of Hiiumaa, Estonia. It is the capital of Hiiu County and the centre of Hiiu Parish.
Contents
- Map of KC3A4rdla Hiiu County Estonia
- Geography
- History
- Transport
- Events
- Famous people
- Twin towns Sister cities
- References
Map of K%C3%A4rdla, Hiiu County, Estonia
Geography
Kärdla is located on the north-eastern coast of Hiiumaa, by the Tareste Bay. Southeast of the town is the Kärdla meteorite crater, which is 455 million years old. Several small rivers flow through the town. There are also artesian wells in Kärdla.
History
Kärdla was first mentioned in 1564 as a village inhabited by Swedes. Its growth was greatly influenced by the cloth factory founded in 1830. A port was built in 1849. Both the port and the factory were destroyed in World War II.
Kärdla officially became a borough in 1920 and a town in 1938. In 2013 the town was merged with Kõrgessaare Parish to establish Hiiu Parish, therefore Kärdla lost its municipality status.
Transport
Road transport from Estonian mainland to Hiiumaa involves a 90-minute (28 km (17 mi)) ferry crossing from Rohuküla to Heltermaa, which is 25 kilometres (16 miles) by road from Kärdla. There are about 10 ferry departures a day. In the summer weekends, getting car space on the ferry usually requires advance booking. There are about 2 scheduled buses a day between Tallinn (the capital of Estonia) and Kärdla.
There are no scheduled passenger boats directly to Kärdla.
Kärdla is served by Kärdla Airport, with regular flights to Tallinn.
Kärdla town itself is small enough to get around on foot. Bicycle rental is available and there is a good bicycle path built from Kärdla towards Kõrgessaare.
Events
June's first weekend annual Hiiumaa Children's festival takes place.
In first week of August coffee-loving people of Kärdla expect visitors to Kärdla Cafés' Day celebrated just for one day in their own gardens, serving coffee and home-made pastry.
Famous people
Twin towns – Sister cities
Kärdla is twinned with: