| Jägala Waterfall | |
| Location: | Jägala-Joa, Jõelähtme Parish, Harju County, Estonia |
| Elevation: | 84m (276feet) |
| Height: | 8m (26feet) |
| Width: | 50m (160feet) |
| Number Drops: | 1 |
| Average Flow: | 12.8m3/s |
| Pushpin Map: | Estonia#Estonia Harju County |
Jägala Waterfall[1] [2] [3] (Estonian: Jägala juga; English:) is a waterfall in northern Estonia on the Jägala River. It is the largest natural waterfall in Estonia, with a width of about 50m (160feet) and a height of about 8m (26feet).[4] Jägala Waterfall is located in Koogi in Harju County. Jägala Waterfall is also the most powerful waterfall in Estonia, cascading 12.8m3/s of water. It can even reach 200m3/s during spring in high water periods, and it freezes over in the winter.[5]
Jägala Waterfall was formed by eroding away limestone layers in a karst area. The limestone bluff is commonly known as the Baltic Cliff. The river deteriorated the cliff into a U-shape. The erosion made the waterfall retreat up to 17cm (07inches) per year. The water now flows down 8m (26feet). The curved ground is 65m (213feet) long and the water flows 12.8m3/s.[6]
After the waterfall, the river continues and speeds up from the confluence of the Jõelähtme River, 300m (1,000feet) from Jägala Falls. It then passes through the Jägala hydroelectric powerplant, which then speeds it up more and guides it to the Linnamäki dam. The river then falls 11m (36feet) from the dam and continues on its natural path. The river continues for a total of 37.2km (23.1miles) after the waterfall.[7]
Jägala Waterfall is located in the municipality of Jõelähtme in the village of Jägala-Joa, 25km (16miles) east of Tallinn, and only a thirty minute drive from Tallinn. The fastest way to get there by Tallinn would be a taxi which can cost between €21 and €26 ($22.61 to $27.99). The cheapest way would be the line 158 and 152 bus which can cost between €1 and €3 ($1.08 to $3.23).[8] It is surrounded by fertile farmland to the east and west, with villages alongside the river. The river flows from Ihasalu Bay into the Gulf of Finland.
Jägala Waterfall plummets from the North Estonian bank which is a cut into the Paleozoic bedrock. Ordovician sedimentary rocks got exposed from the stream, it then also uncovered many other deposits, especially limestone. The limestone had fossilized many naticoids into the limestone. Over thousands of years, the waterfall eroded the edge of the cliff, and the threshold made the land ahead uplift. It then eroded a valley 280 meters (919 ft) long and 13 meters (43 ft) meters deep, where the river flows today.[9]
The rock that makes up the falls were made from the Fennoscandian Shield (or Baltic Shield) and East European Platform colliding and forming the Baltic klint. The Baltic klint was made between 1.5 and 2 billion years ago. This formed the Baltic Cliff. The Waterfall on the other hand, was formed about 3,000 years ago.[10]
Before the waterfall was named Jägala Waterfall, its folk name was Joarüngas. Some people think that there used to be a place of worship here, worshipping the waterfall, that was around 1240. Maps dating from 1688 also say that there might have been a water-powered mill here. Later on, during World War II, the Nazis built a concentration camp here called the Jägala Concentration Camp around August 1942. The camp killed an estimated of 2,000 to 3,000 Jews.[11] [12] The camp was closed in 1943 after almost all prisoners were relocated to the Tallinn Central Prison, and any other remaining prisoners were shot and killed.