Lecture by Andres Tvauri on the EARLY FOUNDING OF VALGA

On the first day of the Valga-Valka Twin Cities Festival 2026, a lecture by PhD. Andres Tvauri, archaeologist from the University of Tartu, on the earlier founding of Valga will take place at Valga Museum.

As an archaeologist, Andres Tvauri has personally participated in fieldwork in Valga and believes that Valga was inhabited earlier than 1286, the year from which the first written evidence about Valga originates and which marks 740 years this year.

The presentation will discuss archaeological research works conducted in the area of Valga town and their results. Since no archaeological remains from medieval Valga have been found so far, there will also be discussion about where the medieval Valga settlement was located.

Tvauri has been working at the University of Tartu since 1997; he obtained his master's degree in 1995 at the University of Helsinki and his doctoral degree in 2001 in Tartu. He has led numerous archaeological field studies and published several works dealing with medieval and early modern archaeological finds.