The meterior struck in a grove near the village of Kaali. At the center of the impact is a green pond about 50 meters in diameter, surrounded by a 16 meter high earth wall with a diameter of 110 meters. There are 8 smaller craters in this area. About 4000 years ago, the Meterior hit here.
Nestled in a dense forest just 18 kilometers from Kuressaare lies a witness to a cosmic catastrophe: the Kaali meteorite crater on the picturesque island of Saaremaa. With a mysterious, shimmering green pool in the center, surrounded by an impressive 16 meter high earth wall, this place tells a story that reaches up to the stars.
Already at the first glance at the approximately 50 meter large crater you can feel the energy of this place, which was formed around 4000 years ago by the powerful impact of a meteorite. But this is only the center of a larger narrative. Eight other, smaller craters run through the landscape and tell of the destruction that left its mark far beyond the island. Stories of this massive celestial event can be found in Finnish and Scandinavian traditions and even the Greek author Pytheas is said to have reported about it.
But on Saaremaa there are also myths surrounding these mysterious recesses: about a convoluted wedding church, a licentious landowner and other legendary events. It was the theories of the 18th and 19th centuries that spoke of volcanic eruptions and gas explosions until Alfred Wegener, a name many will know from plate tectonics, gave the first clue to the true nature of these craters. Ultimately, it was the discovery of charred wood remains and meteorite fragments by geologist Ivan Reinwald in 1937 that provided the decisive evidence.