City tour Tallinn Town Hall Toompea Castle and Palace Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Blackheads House Dome Church

Great Guild Hall Kiek in de Kok The Old Pharmacy Old Town Defence Wall St. Catherine's Dominican Monastery Kadriorg park

Tallinn is one of the best retained medieval European towns, with its web of winding cobblestone streets and properties, from the 11th to 15th centuries, preserved nearly in its entirety. All the most important state and church buildings from the Middle Ages have been preserved in their basic original form, as well as many citizens’ and merchants’ residences, along with barns and warehouses from the medieval period.

The golden era in Tallinn’s history lies in the period between the early 15th and mid 16th centuries. Tallinn had attained fame and a powerful role in the Baltic Sea area through its membership in the Hanseatic League. Economic might carried with it both the need to defend the city and the opportunity for a rich period of architectural and artistic creativity Tallinn has fallen under Danish, German, Swedish or Czarist Russian rule, has retained more remnants of its past and in a more complete state than most other cities in Europe. You can see, feel and touch history everywhere in this overwhelmingly romantic city: it's in candlelight casting shadows on a cavernous stone wall in an old town merchant house, it's in the tree-lined parks that were once the strolling grounds for the aristocracy, and in a Baltic Sea breeze slapping waves at your feet along a shorefront promenade.

This is also a city that has won worldwide acclaim for its forward-thinking, state-of-the-art services. A thriving nightlife has also sprung up in Tallinn, the center of economic and cultural activity in the country; it's also a hub for major festivals and concerts throughout the year. Amid all the advances, this inspiring city also hasn't become overly developed or refined: there's a touching genuineness to Tallinn.

City tour

The Tallinn tour consist of a bus tour and walking tour. During a bus tour you will travel through the Old Town enjoying a fascinating view of the medieval part of the city. The walking tour starts at the Upper Town Toompea and includes visiting of Toompea Palace, seat of Estonian Parliament, Toompea Castle, Russian Orthodox Church (the 13th ) cent and The Gothic Dome Cathedral, oldest cathedral in Tallinn (233). Further you will follow to the Lower Town where you will see the Gothic Town Hall (early 15th cent.).

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.

Toompea Castle and Palace

Toompea Castle is one of Estonia’s oldest and grandest architectural groupings. It was built in the 13th to the 14th centuries on the steep coast, high above sea level. At the end of the 14th century in the southwestern corner of the castle was built 48-meter-high tower, called Tall Hermann. Today, Toompea Castle is seat of Estonian Parliament

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

The Alexander Nevsky cathedral is the main center for Russian Orthodoxy in Estonia. Built in 1900, it features the classical onion domes typical of Russian churches. Nevsky was the Russian hero who defeated the vastly superior forces of the Tuetonic nights in the 13th century.

Blackheads House

The House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads is nearly the only preserved Renaissance building in Tallinn.

The Brotherhood of Blackheads emerged in 1399. The Brotherhood united the young, single merchants before they could be accepted into the Great Guild, as well as foreign merchants who were residing in Tallinn for longer periods but not permanently.

The name of the Brotherhood is associated with their patron, the black St. Mauritius, an early Christian martyr. His head is the mascot on the Brotherhood’s coat of arms. The Brotherhood was active only in Estonia and Latvia, unknown in the rest of Europe. Members of the Brotherhood left Tallinn in the 1940s. The site of the House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads probably had a residential building on it from the 14th century. In the first half of the 16th century, the Blackheads bought it and built a new hall with an archless ceiling.

The next serious rebuilding took place in 1597, when the facade was redesigned in the Dutch Renaissance architectural spirit, with a profusion of ornaments and carved decorations. One of Tallinn’s most eye-catching doors, on the front of this building, dates to 1640.

Dome Church

The oldest church in Estonia was founded in 1219 by the first wave of Danish forces. The Gothic exterior dates to the 14th century, but the interior was rebuilt after the 1684 fire. The Baroque pulpit (1686) and organ loft (1780) are worth a look.

Great Guild Hall

The Great Guild was an organization uniting the city’s wealthy merchants, and intended for protecting its members’ common interests. Tallinn’s mayor and the city fathers were also chosen from among the members of the Great Guild. The building was built in 1407-1417 as a gathering place for the merchants who belonged to the Guild. The building’s size and grandeur is a testimony to the wealth and influence of the guild’s merchants.

The building now preserves the interior and exterior it had in the 15th century, with minor revisions. The façade of the building has almost entirely preserved its original appearance, graced with the Great Guild’s coat of arms and bronze knockers from 1430 on the door.

Kiek in de Kok

Kiek in de Kök, 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.

The Old Pharmacy

Due to historical documents first mention of the Town Hall Pharmacy belongs to 15th century, though it might be even older. It’s considered to one of the oldest pharmacies that still function on they original place through out the whole Europe. Now, the old pharmacy is governed by the city council and sell modern medicine and other products.

Old Town Defence Wall

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 Väike-Kloostri streets you can climb up Nunna Tower, then cross through a defensive passage to Sauna Tower and onward to Kuldjala Tower.

St. Catherine's Dominican Monastery

St. Catherine’s Dominican Monastery is the oldest cloister in downtown Tallinn.St. Catherine’s monastery was founded in 1246. The structure of the building is that of a typical Catholic cloister. The most powerful building in the cloister complex is the church. St. Catherine’s Church is thought to have reached its present state at the end of the 14th century and in surface area was the largest downtown church of its time. The Reformation of 1525 shut down the cloisters’ functional activities, when the monks were forced into exile. In 1531, a fire started in the desecrated, empty church, leaving only ruins in its stead. Remaining standing today are the western wall of the cloisters’ church, containing two portals, an eastern portion of the southern wall, with part of three supporting pillars and window openings, and the lower part of the southeastern tower, as well as a section of the northern wall.

Kadriorg park

Kadriorg Park is the most notable park artwork in Estonia. The park was originally nearly 100 hectares in size, but is not preserved in its entirety. One of the most popular places in the park is the symmetrical Swan Lake and its surroundings. Originally, the park included a dignified formal Italian-French garden on the other side of the Swan Lake from the road. Only a small part of the large park was designed as a formal park in its time. Most of it was intended to preserve the look of the natural landscape, with meadows and forest groves, traversed by paths.