SACRED NATURAL PLACES OF ESTONIA: REGIONAL ASPECTS

Abstract: The article discusses the sacred natural places of Estonia from a regional perspective, outlining the two main regions – sea-oriented and inland. Regionality is most clearly expressed in the distribution of hiis sites – a phe-nomenon characteristic of sea-related areas. There are also other phenomena bound with specific areas, such as the distribution of natural healing places, farmstead offering places, natural offering places related to the cult of Tõnis/ Tennüs and cross-signed trees. The Orthodox Setomaa region is a distinctive area due to confessional and cultural factors. Besides presenting a general sur-vey of the sources, the article also touches upon the reasons for the emergence of regional differences, outlining geographical, historical, and confessional factors. Regional differences in sacred natural places greatly correspond to other re-gional peculiarities which can be observed in the traditional popular culture. Key words: history, popular culture, regional differences, sacred natural places Sacred natural places exist in different parts of the world and have generally much in common (Bradley 2000: 14–32). The concept of sacredness can be con