Lake Prästvike

Prästviigi, Prästvik in Swedish, translates as ‘the priest’s bay’ and takes its name from the fact that in the 17th century, the exclusive right to fish on the lake belonged to the island’s priest.

Some 36 hectares in size, Lake Prästvike is a former sea lagoon that has now become the largest lake on Vormsi and survives as the only old coastal lake. The former bay extended deep into the centre of the island, almost all the way to the church. Churches were often built near a bay in the Middle Ages.

Today, the lake is largely covered in reeds, but has retained its importance as a spawning ground for coastal fish species. The other coastal lakes on Vormsi, i.e. Lake Diby and Lake Kärrsläti, have been cut off from the sea. The only stream on Vormsi called Vae stream, makes its way from Lake Prästvike to the sea. The stream flows in the opposite direction during high tides 

Of the numerous springs in the northern part of the lake, the largest is Suurallikas (great spring), which forms the centre of the lake and has a summer flow of around ten litres per second.

The name of Raviallikas (healing spring) on the northern shore of the lake comes from the abundance of lime and iron in it, which is said to provide additional healing properties. It is said that the lord of Suuremõisa manor had all his drinking water brought from Lake Prästvike. Remnants of curbs at the bottom of the spring are evidence of water extraction. 

A unique boggy limestone-rich meadow has developed around Raviallikas with an abundance of several protected species of orchids. Six species of plants of the second and third protection categories can be found in the spring fen: Liparis loeselii, Herminium monorchis, Epipactis palustris, Dactylorhiza incarnata, Ophrys insectifera and Viola uliginosa.

An alder carr grows on the western shore of Lake Prästvike.

The birdlife is numerous and varied. On quiet spring evenings you can the hooting of the Eurasian bittern. The nesting sites of the western marsh harrier and the common crane, both of which are protected species, have also been found by the lake.