There are many springs seeping out from the coast above the Värska promenade. The biggest of these has been called the Silmaläte (Vision Spring). It was believed that the waters of the spring could cure bad eyesight. People tell that many were actually cured, too. The spring attracted many people and there was a rooftop with a cross built over the spring. The people washing their eyes threw coins into the spring as an act of sacrifice.
In the first decades of the 20th century the spring was directed into a concrete pipe, and the rooftop broke apart. The spring water has been used in the Värska church during the Epiphany, when the Eastern Christians commemorate the baptism of 30-years-old Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. The holiday is celebrated in Setomaa on January 19th (according to the old calendar). On that day, the local people bring the blessed water home from the church, to cure cattle as well as people. It is believed that the water would stay fresh until the next Epiphany.
Contacts
MTÜ Setomaa Turism
+372 5682 1268
Värska, Setomaa vald, 64001
turism@setomaa.ee
http://www.visitsetomaa.ee
