Viiratsi

According to the 2011 census , 1332 people lived in the village, of which 1228 (92.2%) were Estonians ^[2] .

In 2000, the number of inhabitants of the village was 1392 people ^[3] .

As of October 3, 2018, 1,183 residents were registered in the village ^[4] .

Until 2013, the village was the administrative center of Viyratsi volost , in which nearly 40% of the volost residents lived.

The village has a 6-class Viyratsi school, a shopping center, Viyratsi People’s House , social houses, a post office, Viyratsi library, a family doctor center, an orphanage , a kindergarten and a pension for the elderly.

In Viyratsi there is a mass grave of those who died in the Second World War .

Viyratsi was first mentioned in 1481 ^[3] .

In German, the settlement was called Wieratz, in 1481 it is referred to as Vyrrites , in 1584 - as the village of Wirasth ^[5] .

In 1624, the owner of the land of Viratsi became Count Jacob de la Hardy . In 1634 and 1647, he donated part of his possessions to Lieutenant Heinrich Kruse and the Viijratsu manor . ^[3]

Viyratsi Manor was built between 1599-1624. In 1638, it is referred to as Wiritz. ^{[5] The} manor belonged to the brother-in-law and heir to Heinrich Cruz Lars Wadenfelf ( Lars Wadenfelf ) until 1682 inclusive. ^[3] In 1789, the manor passed into the possession of the city of Viljandi ^[3] and belonged to it until 1940 inclusive ^[5] . In Soviet times, the main building of the manor was rebuilt beyond recognition into the central estate of the Yu.A. Gagarin state farm ; the barn of the 19th century and the farm building were preserved from the manor complex ^[6] .

Administratively part of the Wesenberg county of the Estland province.

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  Wiiratsi School

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  Monument on the mass grave of those killed in World War II

• Aerial photo of Viratsi village