Laane County
Läänemaa (area 2383 sq km; population 31850) is a county with a long coastline, meadows, forests and bogs. The center of the County is the town of Haapsalu - for a long time a well loved summer town, known for its warm seawater and the therapeutic mud with an excellent curative effect. Many Estonian celebrities have found a summer hiding place in Läänemaa!The Estonian Railway Museum is located in the so-called Emperor's Pavilion. Haapsalu Railway Station (built in 1905-1907) is one of the most peculiar buildings of the town; its wooden lace historical building style has become an example for many other representative houses of the town. The Railway Station project was compiled in St Petersburg and its grandeur stressed the importance of Haapsalu as a summer town hosting the crowned heads of Russia.
On the Peninsula of Rumpo, situated on the Southern coast of the Island of Vormsi, and the islets of the Gulf of Hullo a botanical reserve was established in 1987 for the protection of the meadows near the sea. The continuous covering of these meadows with forest, is a threat to the lichens growing here (tundra lichen), the islets are the nesting area for many coastal birds.
The Ridala Church, erected in the 13th century, is one of the best-preserved Middle Ages churches, built in the characteristic Western Estonian one-nave style, in the whole of Estonia. There are fragments of the ceiling paintings (probably from the 14th century), a Baroque-pulpit (1656, E. Thiele) and an altar preserved in the Church.


