Old-Pärnu poster
It is
a very popular holiday destination in summer. It's also situated between the sea
and the Pärnu river.
Pärnu was first mentioned in the 12th century, so it is older 700 years old. In the
middle ages Pärnu was a very important trading centre. It was a member of the
Hanseatic League. Pärnu became a resort town in the 1830s when a group of
businessmen founded the first bathing establishment. Before that today's Beach
Park's area was just wet pasture. In the 1930s Pärnu cecame especially popular
with Finns, Swedes, Latvians and Lithuanians.
In Soviet times, however, people from the west were not allowed to stay in
Pärnu for the night. Pärnu's sanatoria were full of holiday-makers from the s.u.
annaabi.ee 
