Odenpäh

58 ° 3 ′ 27 ″ N, 26 ° 30 ′ 15 ″ E

The settlement was located at a high hill, looks like the head of a lying bear. So, it's name in German (Odinpe) and in Russian ("Medvezh'ia golova") means "Bear's head". The fortress "closed" the main routes from the south and southeast into the Estonian lands, therefore it was often attacked by Novgorodians. It was first mentioned in 1116 in connection with the campaign against the "Bear's Head" by Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, son of Vladimir Monomakh. In 1192, Odinpe was burned by the troops of the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich, and already in 1208 the knights of the Order of the Swordsmen and the Bishop of Riga came here. Control over Odinpe meant power over a large region, therefore in 1210-1223 began the struggle for the fortress between the Novgorod princes and the Order of the Swordsmen. It passed from hand to hand. As a result, in 1224 Odinpe became the possession of Bishop Dorpat. A bishop's castle (the first brick fortress in the region) was erected here next to the Estonian settlement in 1225, the ruins of which stand on the top of a hill. Here, during the Estonian uprising in 1343, was the center of the forces of the Dorpat bishop and the Livonian knights, which coordinated the suppression of the uprising.

Odinpe is a monument not only to the history of the northern crusaders, but also to the difficult relationship between the Livonian Order and the bishops: the castle was destroyed by the Livonian knights in 1396 during one of the internal wars in Livonia and has not been rebuilt since then. The hill and ruinss are located on the Tartu-Valga highway, near Otepää town today.

Tags: castles and fortresses, before 13 century, 13 century, 14 century, Teutonic Order (Livonia)