Muraste

Estonians have historically been “forest dwellers”. Their experience in building from wood goes back to the 3rd millennium BCE when the first timber structure was built – the koda (chamber). Through traditions and customs, this dwelling unit with archaic and simple architecture laid the foundation for a complex ethos that could be called the soul of the Estonian identity.Koda is one of the oldest Estonian words, originally meaning “place for living”, and it is linguistically very close to the words kodu (“home”) and koht (“place”). The archetypal koda in its original form is still in use, even though its basic purpose has changed. Over time, completely new types of koda have appeared: places for makin... More