Suure-Jaani is a town in the northern part of the county of Viljandimaa in Põhja-Sakala rural municipality, 25 kilometres north of the town of Viljandi. Until 2017, Suure-Jaani was the administrative centre of Suure-Jaani rural municipality.
Culture
During the Estonian national awakening period in the 19th century, Suure-Jaani parish was one of the regional centres of educational, cultural and social life (largely as a result of the efforts of schoolmaster and musician Joosep Kapp and also e.g. as the parish of origin of the first Estonian professional painter Johann Köler, who both actively contributed to the development and promotion of Estonian culture).
Presently, Suure-Jaani hosts the Suure-Jaani Music Days, an annual summer festival of classical music started in 1998, dedicated to the Kapp family of composers. Suure-Jaani is also the place of establishment of the International Artur Kapp Society, a non-profit foundation for promoting the works and life of composer Artur Kapp and other composers related to Suure-Jaani, such as Mart Saar.
Places of interest
- Church of Great Saint John the Evangelist
- Home museum of the Kapp family of composers and musicians
- Monument of the Estonian War of Independence (depicting Lembitu of Lehola)
- Lehola hill fort (Lembitu linnamägi) of ancient Estonians at Lõhavere (nearby, in Põhja-Sakala rural municipality)
- Home museum of composer Mart Saar at Hüpassaare (in Põhja-Sakala rural municipality)
- Home museum of painter Johann Köler at Lubjassaare farm (Ivaski village in Põhja-Sakala rural municipality)
- Soomaa National Park (20–30 km south-west of Suure-Jaani)
