Telise Marker Towers – Telise, Estonia - Atlas Obscura

Telise Marker Towers

Telise, Estonia

These two strange cones are actually a system of old nautical navigation beacons. 

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On the shore of Telise village stands two stone pyramid-shaped towers. They were constructed around 1910 and were used by seamen to orient their vessels to the shore. The lower marker stands around 22-feet (7-meters) and the upper is 39-feet (12-meters) high. The distance between them is well over 1,000-feet (400-meters).

Together, these structures form a direct route for navigation that was used by ships to safely dock at the nearby seaside resort town of Haapsalu. The towers were known as day markers because they could only be seen by ships in daylight.

Today, the towers have a significant cultural and historical value. They have received some minor damages over the years and trees around the structures have become overgrown. Only a few similar day markers still exist in the Baltic Sea area today. Marker towers like these are now mostly obsolete, and have been replaced with modern equipment. 

In Estonia, the Telise marker towers are the only such towers left remaining. 

Know Before You Go

You need your own transportation to visit the day markers. The towers are located on private land, so you cannot drive directly to the site, but they can be visited by taking a short walk and can be seen from afar. 

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October 28, 2020

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