St. Olav`s Church
St. Olav’S Church was the tallest church in Medieval Europe. The earliest data on St. Olav’s Church come from 1267. The church was named after the Norwegian king Olav II Haraldsson, canonised as a saint. St. Olav was considered to be the protector of seafarers. Legend says that once upon a time the nobles of Tallinn decided to build the tallest church in the world, in hopes of luring more merchants to the city. But where to find a master builder capable of carrying out such a task? Suddenly, a large, quiet stranger appeared out of nowhere and promised to build the church, but the payment he asked was more than the city could pay. The man was willing to forego payment, on just one condition - the city people had to guess his name. The stranger worked fast and talked to no one. The church was nearly finished and the city fathers grew more anxious by the day. Finally, they sent a spy to sniff out the stranger’s name. The spy found the builder’s home, where a woman was singing a lullaby to a child: "Sleep, my baby, sleep, Olev will come home soon, with gold enough to buy the moon." Now the city people had the man’s name! They called out to the builder, who was attaching a cross on the top of the steeple, "Olev, Olev, the cross is crooked!" Upon hearing this, Olev lost his balance and fell all the way down. Legend tells of a frog and a snake that crawled out of Olev’s mouth as he lay there on the ground. Building the enormous structure had required the help of dark powers. Yet the builder’s name was given to the church, named after St. Olav. |
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Tallinn Town Hall
Tallinn`s late Gothic Town Hall building is one of the most famed symbols of the city, recognized throughout Estonia as a venerable, unique architectural treasure.The Town Hall was established on the central square, probably at the beginning of 13th century. In 1402-1404, the building was substantially reconstructed. The exterior we know today dates from this period, and the basic room plan has also been preserved, as it was reconstructed for hosting receptions.
The second floor was and still is the main floor, where the Citizen`s Hall, the Council Hall, a small kitchen and chancery are located and where festive receptions and concerts are held, just as they were in the Medieval days of yore. The three-nave cellar hall is open to citizens and guests today as an exhibit hall.
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Kadriorg
The emergence and development of Kadriorg was influenced first and foremost by the high society of the tsar’s empire, as well as the wealthiest layer of local society. Even the dignified architecture of Kadriorg’s preserved historical wooden residential buildings give proof to the fact that this was a wealthy seaside resort area.The streets of Kadriorg are as good as a unique architectural museum, weaving together various centuries and cultures. Noble villas and summer estates, functionalist apartment buildings with stately flats are interspersed with cheaper Estonian rented wooden houses. Kadriorg is one of the more dignified areas even today, and one of the best loved residential regions of Tallinn . The Estonian President’s residence and many foreign embassies are located here. The park is one of the favourite spots for walking of Tallinners young and old. But Kadriorg is famed mostly for its baroque palace and park ensemble, begun in 1718 as the summer palace for the family of Russian tsar Peter I. |
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Town Wall
By the 16th century, Tallinn’s defense system was one of the most powerful in Northern Europe.
Medieval fortresses, which emerged during the development of the medieval town at the end of the 13th century, surrounded the city centre as a closed defense zone. By the 16th century, Tallinn’s defense system was one of the most powerful in Northern Europe. The town wall was three meters thick, sixteen meters high, and four kilometers long, completely encircling the city with 46 defense towers. The portion of the wall that has survived is two kilometers long, encompassing 26 of the original towers. Three towers and a section of the town wall surrounding the Old Town are open to the public – and can be visited by anyone with a sense of adventure. From the corner of Suur-Kloostri and Vaike-Kloostri streets you can climb up Nunna Tower, then cross through a defensive passage to Sauna Tower and onward to Kuldjala Tower. |
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Kiek in de Kok
Kiek in de Kok was the most powerful cannon tower in 16th-century Northern Europe. It is written in the chronicles that Kiek in de Kok was once the most powerful tower along the Baltic shores. The round cannon tower, built in the latter part of the 15th century, had a diameter of 17 meters. Its height is 38 meters and its walls are 4 meters thick. The tower was just high enough that its guards had a view into the kitchens of neighbouring buildings. Of course the view also extended to the enemy’s rear. The tower’s name, "peek in the kitchen", comes from its height.
Kiek in de Kok, situated on the slope of Toompea Hill, is the most powerful defense tower in the Baltic region. Today the tower holds a permanent exhibit on the emergence of Tallinn , on three floors, tells the story of the birth and development of Tallinn and the most important military events from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The external wall still holds stone and iron cannonballs from Russian tsar Ivan IV. |
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Great Coastal Gate and Fat Margaret's Tower
The Great Coastal Gate, built along with the city wall, is situated on the northern side of the Old Town, near the harbour. During the reconstruction of the gate in the early 16th century, the cannon tower Fat Margaret was added. The round tower, with 155 loopholes, a diameter of 25 meters, and a height of about 20 meters, was built to protect the harbour. It got its name from the fact that it was indeed the stoutest tower in the city wall. Through history, the cannon tower has also served as a storehouse for gunpowder and weapons, and as a prison. Fat Margaret's Tower now houses the Estonian Maritime Museum, with a permanent exhibit on Estonian maritime and fishing history. The viewing platform on the roof affords a lovely view onto the Old Town and the bay. |
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Toompea Castle
Built in the 13th to the 14th centuries, the castle is situated on the steep limestone coast, 50 meters above sea level. It is one of the most potent symbols of reigning power, conquered over the centuries by various nations. Today, the Estonian Parliament is housed here. Tall Hermann was built in the southwestern corner of Toompea Fortress at the end of the 14th century. The name of the tower comes from the German phrase "Lange Hermann" meaning "tall soldier" or "chief" and comes from the tales of the adored medieval hero Hermann. This sort of name was usually given to the most powerful towers in a fortress. The Estonian flag waves at the top of the 48-meter-high tower. |
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Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is Tallinn’s largest and grandest cupola cathedral. The large, richly decorated Orthodox church, in mixed historicist style, was built on Toompea Hill in 1900, when Estonia was part of the Russian tsarist empire. The architect of the church was Mikhail Preobrazhenski from St. Petersburg. The church is dedicated to the Prince of Novgorod, Alexander Yaroslavitz Nevsky, who led the famous Ice Battle on the banks of Lake Peipsi on 5 April, 1242 and halted the Germans' eastward advance. Before the building of the cathedral, there was a garden on the same site, in front of Toompea Castle, with a memorial to Martin Luther. The well-maintained cathedral is the grandest sacred Orthodox structure in Tallinn .
The church’s belltowers hold Tallinn’s most powerful church bell ensemble, consisting of 11 bells, including the largest in Tallinn, weighing 15 tonnes. You can hear the entire bell ensemble playing before church services. The interior, decorated with mosaics and icons, is well worth a visit. |
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Church of the Holy Ghost
Church of Holy Ghost is the only sacred building from the 14th century in Tallinn that has preserved its original form. The simple, humble Church of the Holy Ghost was completed in the 1360’s and, but for the exception of the baroque spire, it has retained its original medieval exterior. The Church of the Holy Ghost holds an important place in Estonian cultural history: the first Estonian sermons were preached here, and the Livonian chronicler Balthasar Russow worked here as a teacher in the late 16th century. Johann Koell, a pastor at the Church of the Holy Ghost, is considered to be the author of the first Estonian book, a catechism published in 1535. Tower bell, made in 1433, was the oldest in Estonia but in May 2002 was badly damaged in fire. The painted clock on its facade is the oldest public timekeeper in Tallinn. The interior is richly decorated, a good example of wooden sculpture from the Gothic era. The altar, commissioned from Berndt Notke in 1483, is one of the four most precious Medieval works of art in Estonia. |
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St. Catherine’s Passage
St. Catherine’s Passage (Katariina kaik) connects Vene and Muurivahe streets. You can see the remaining portions of St. Catherine’s Church in the northern part of the passage. Residential buildings from the 15th to the 17th centuries stand along the sides of the southern section of the Passage. The Passage was rediscovered and given new life in the summer of 1995, but is still imbued with a medieval milieu. The open studios of artisans are now located here, and visitors can watch artists and craftsmen practise their craft daily. While each studio is unique in appearance and function, they are all united in the principle of the open studio: here one can view works not only as finished products, as in an ordinary gallery, but also as the end product of various processes that the open studio presents to the visitor. |
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Pirita
Pirita, located 5-7 kilometers from Tallinn’s city centre, borrowed its name from the Order of St. Bridget’s Virgin Mary Cloisters. In the early 20th century, the seaside town of Pirita began to develop into a destination for Sunday rides and a bathing area. Today Pirita is one of the favourite places in Tallinn for spending free time, with its bathing beaches, coastline, pine-forested parks, and picturesque Pirita River valley. The whole area offers a spectrum of possibilities for active holidays. Tallinn’s Botanical Garden has lands on either side of the Pirita River, near the Forest Cemetery and Tallinn’s TV Tower, where you can achieve a view from 170 meters high, over the city and its surroundings. |
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Estonian Open Air Museum
The Open Air Museum presents a unique collection of old Estonian buildings on a 79-hectare expanse of seaside land. Farm buildings, windmills and water mills from various periods and regions have been brought together here. Folk holidays are celebrated in traditional style at the museum, and often folk dance and music can be enjoyed here. Estonian Open Air Museum is located in a picturesque 79-hectare forest park by Kopli Bay . Farm buildings from various times and places are on display, along with windmills, water mills and much more. The museum is outside of the city and its hectic hubbub, an ideal place to take a picnic and escape from city life.
Handicrafts are sold in the main gateway and horseback rides are also available. A village inn serves national dishes every day. |
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