Place · city

Otepää

Otepää is a town in southern Estonia, built beside a hillfort that was the main stronghold of the ancient Estonian county of Ugandi; its name means 'bear's head'. During the Livonian Crusade of the early 13th century the fort changed hands several times between the Estonians, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword and Russian princes, before the Bishop of Dorpat built a stone castle there. Today it is a winter sports resort.

Otepää
Image: Ivo Kruusamägi · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 1 state history

Ugandi

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Otepää. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/otepaa
MLA
“Otepää.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/otepaa. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Otepää.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/otepaa.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Otepää’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/otepaa (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻