The history of Lihula over the last 800 years is a story of sudden dramas interspersed with centuries of peace. It was clearly a major fortress in the early 13th century, before the Teutonic Knights seized it from local Estonians and fighters from Saaremaa. Evidence is gradually being found of settlements going back a further thousand years or more and this has given rise to its being called 'Estonia's Pompeii'. The Knights understood its strategic location and completed a new castle in 1242. The excavations that have taken place over the last 35 years have now revealed the layout of the castle as it must have been then. It survived until the Livonian War between Sweden and Russia at the end of the 16th century when it was largely destroyed and the local community looted much of the stonework.
The manor house in front of these excavations dates from 1840 and the interior still suffers from its 40 years as the headquarters of a collective farm. It is gradually being converted into a museum with a strange mixture of themes. Plans of the old castle are to be expected, as are the archaeological trophies displayed there. What is totally unexpected is the space given to Soviet communications, such as telex machines, telephones, radios and television sets.
At the other end of the town is a small sign to the town cemetery. Most visitors go to see what is not there rather than what is, and are surprised to hear that one object brought down an Estonian government in 2004, because it was removed under pressure from many international groups. The object was a statue of an Estonian soldier in German uniform, although without the swastika.
Neil Taylor "Estonia. The Bradt Travel Guide", 2007