Pärnu

Pärnu is a city in south-western Estonia, in Pärnu County, set where the river Pärnu flows into the bay of the same name, an inlet of the Gulf of Riga, some 128 kilometres south of Tallinn. Founded in the 13th century, it was a member of the Hanseatic League and an ice-free harbour for Livonia, and its Endla Theatre was where the Estonian Declaration of Independence was first proclaimed, on 23 February 1918. With some 40,000 inhabitants, it has been known since 1996 as Estonia's 'Summer Capital', thanks to a resort tradition that began with its first bathing establishment in 1838. Its beach is the hub of much of its sporting life: the Rannastaadion football ground opened there in 2016, some 120 metres from the sand, and that same year the city hosted the World University Beach Volleyball Championship, while every September Jüri Jaanson's Two Bridges Run follows the riverbank. Pärnu has been designated European City of Sport 2027, a recognition that will add it to the Estonian representation in the ACES network.