Lümanda lime kiln keeps Estonia’s 130-year tradition burning

A lime kiln in Lümanda, Saaremaa, has been operating continuously this week as part of a traditional process that is reportedly unique in the world, ERR reports. It is said to be the only place in Estonia where lime has been produced using old traditions for the past 130 years.

By Friday evening, the kiln had been heated for 56 consecutive hours to keep the limestone at a temperature of 1,000 degrees Celsius.

“The fire must not go out under any circumstances. If it does, the batch in the kiln is ruined. The old men used to say that once the kiln has gone out, you must not start again. That is the wisdom of the old men,” lime burner Priit Penu said.

The process consumes about one cubic metre of firewood every hour. Heating the kiln for 56 hours therefore requires between 55 and 60 cubic metres of wood, Penu said.

Lime-burning has a long history in the Lümanda area, which has three former lime kilns nearby. The traditional process also attracts visitors who want to see it in operation.

“We had heard about it and visited once when it was empty. Now we came to see how it really works,” a visitor named Katre said.

The current kiln was built in 1936, meaning lime has been burned at that exact location for 90 years. In the wider area, the tradition has continued for 130 years through the periods of Estonian independence, the Russian Empire, the German occupation, the Soviet era and the current Estonian period, Penu said.

Penu, who has worked with lime burning for 32 years, demonstrated how the limestone is turned into lime paint. Water poured over a stone taken from the kiln causes it to crumble. Adding more water transforms the burned stone into a creamy lime paste.

One kiln batch produces about 35 tonnes of paste, which can then yield around 70 tonnes of paint. That amount is enough to paint approximately 30 churches, Penu said.

He said lime paint remains important for restoring medieval buildings because they were built using lime-based materials and could be damaged if restored with other products.

The entire process from limestone to lime paint takes one month. The first week is spent breaking the stones and filling the kiln, the second heating and cooling it, the third breaking down the stones with water into lime paste, and the fourth packaging the paint.