Location: Tallinn, Harju County Map
Tallinn (former German name: Reval) is the capital
of Estonia and has a checkered history. Located on the Gulf of
Finland, it is only 80 kilometers from Helsinki.
In the heart
of the city lies the historic district of Toompea (Cathedral Hill),
the so-called Upper Town, built in the early Middle Ages and still
largely intact today. The mighty walls of the fortifications can
still be seen in the lower town.
Unfortunately, the sadness
of the states of the former Soviet Union soon becomes apparent
outside the old town. The modern center of the city has emerged at
Freedom Square (Vabaduse väljäk), at the end of the old town and
near Sokos Hotell Viru with its large shopping center. Incidentally,
in the days of the Cold War, the secret agents are said to have
given each other a hand in the Viru. The Viru served as an
Interhotel. It mainly accommodated guests from non-socialist
countries, especially Finnish tourists. Among the prominent
overnight guests were the Persian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his
wife, the first man on the moon Neil Armstrong, the world's first
cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor and
the Russian-Soviet singer and composer Alla Pugacheva. The
interception systems that the KGB had installed in the hotel bear
witness to the time when it was an Interhotel. This enabled numerous
rooms to be monitored acoustically and visually. The decommissioned
surveillance center of the Soviet secret service can still be seen
on the 23rd floor of the hotel
Tallinn lives to a large
extent from tourism. The neighboring Finns appreciate the country as
a short trip destination, especially in the summer months. Today the
medieval city presents itself as extremely modern. Almost every café
and every hotel has an Internet connection for its guests, mostly as
wireless LAN and often free of charge. 99 percent of Estonians have
a mobile phone. Bus tickets are ordered and paid for on the go.
The state language is Estonian. The second is English,
the third is usually (if any) Russian. In general, the language
situation in Tallinn is rather complicated. For many residents of the
city, Russian is their native language. On the other hand, those whose
native language is Estonian sometimes do not know Russian at all. In
places intended for tourists, Russian is always spoken. Others may not
know Russian or simply do not want to speak it, but switching to English
will help you clear up any questions. In some areas of urban life, the
Russian language traditionally dominates: for example, public transport
drivers and taxi drivers are most often Russian-speaking.
Linguistic contradictions did not bypass the name of the city. In
Estonian, it is written with two "n", which is why two letters "n" began
to be used in the Russian (Cyrillic) version - Tallinn, since the name
comes from the Estonian linn, where the double letter "n" is necessary.
Some people in Russia are literally pissed off with the two-letter "n"
option, and they continue to insist on the old Soviet spelling with one
"n": be careful.
There are no problems with this in Tallinn. Free
information booklets and good, non-advertised tourist maps of the city
are available in many hotels, as well as in the tourist information
center (see below). The emphasis is on the Old Town, Kadriorg and the
Kalamaja area, which has recently been actively promoted. Many other
Tallinn districts have not yet found their place on the tourist map of
the city. To visit them, you may need regular paper maps available in
bookstores and R-kiosks for €5-6.
Tourist information centre,
Niguliste 2 (between Vabaduse valjak and Town Hall Square). ☎ +372
645-77-77. Mon–Sat 9:00–17:00, Sun 10:00–15:00; in the summer months it
is open until 18-19 hours. Along with information for independent
travelers, the center offers products designed for the mass tourist -
for example, the Tallinn Card, which gives for €24 for one day or €45
for 3 days the right to free admission to museums and discounts in some
restaurants. Museums in Tallinn are quite expensive, but the card will
only pay for itself in very bad weather, when you visit several museums
a day.
The old city needs no introduction: sharp spiers, tiled roofs and
harsh walls with toy towers captivate at first sight. Although the list
of sights of the Old Town will stretch over several pages, it is better
to walk here without a clear plan, looking into courtyards and
discovering new nooks and crannies. It is also impossible to ignore the
Upper Town, located on a hill, from the observation platforms of which
wonderful panoramas open up. This idyll is disturbed only by tourists
who crowd the Old Town in the summer months, and the overpriced prices
make it necessary to look into other areas from time to time.
Kesklinn (Est. "city center") surrounds the medieval Old Town from all
sides. This is a hodgepodge of skyscrapers converted into an old factory
entertainment area, corners of Soviet architecture and, most
importantly, old residential quarters, where entire streets are lined
with typical Tallinn wooden houses from the first half of the 20th
century. Wooden districts - artistic Uus-Maalim, factory Veerenni or
quiet Kassisaba - one of the main attractions in Tallinn. The part of
the district adjacent to the Old Town is also interesting: here you will
see the entire cross-section of the architecture of the first half of
the 20th century, from northern modernism and buildings from the times
of the first Estonian republic to the Stalinist style and skyscrapers
made of glass and concrete.
Kadriorg is located to the east of
Kesklinn and the Old Town. Previously, guidebooks and guides sent
tourists here, although recently Kalamaja, located on the other side,
has been actively (and not unsuccessfully) fighting for the role of the
main Tallinn suburb. Kadriorg has the same aesthetics of an old wooden
town, with the only difference being that there are fewer cafes and
other cultural life, and more architecturally interesting buildings. A
hundred years ago, dachas were actively built in this area, a tradition
that was laid down by Peter I, who created the Kadriorg palace complex,
now an important Tallinn attraction. Also in Kadriorg is an art museum
with the only large collection of Estonian paintings in the whole
country.
Kalamaja is a former fishing settlement, which is
gradually becoming a tourist and even hipster area of the city. This is
wooden Tallinn as it is: burned more than once, rebuilt and rather
heterogeneous, but giving an excellent idea of the history of the city
and its essence. Kalamaja has several notable attractions, including a
first-class maritime museum. There are no less "unofficial" sights - for
example, the abandoned bulk of Gorhall, from which it is good to admire
the sea. The third and most important component is the nooks and
crannies of the wooden city, which are in no way inferior to the
medieval center in terms of atmosphere, but have not yet been very
developed by tourists.
Nõmme district in the southern part of
Tallinn has grown from a separate city. It owes its appearance to one
very non-trivial personality - Baron von Glen - who decided at the turn
of the 20th century to build a new exemplary city here as opposed to the
old and boring Revel. The baron could not build a new city entirely, but
managed to get pretty crazy: his estate, designed on the verge of
surrealism and outright madness, is one of the most unusual objects in
Tallinn. During the first years of independence, Nõmme became something
of a summer cottage suburb, and is now interesting for its authentic
low-rise buildings of the interwar period, pine trees, a sandy cliff
overlooking the rest of Tallinn, as well as a well-preserved urban
environment and the prettiest market in the city.
The eastern
districts of Tallinn are interesting if only because only here the city
comes close to the sea, without being fenced off from it by a strip of
the industrial zone and the port. From the pine-covered suburban area of
Pirita, there are excellent views of the bay and the Old Town, here are
the ruins of a medieval monastery. A little further from the coast is
the main Tallinn cemetery, the Tallinn TV tower and the botanical
garden. If you go further north, you will find yourself in the Viimsi
suburb with the most interesting museum of the fishing collective farm,
an exhibition of military equipment and a museum of wooden architecture.
In the south, the sleeping area of Lasnamäe adjacent to Kadriorg is a
monument of Soviet urban planning and guarantees non-trivial
ethnographic impressions, and to the east, already outside the city,
there is a medieval chapel in the town of Sakha.
The western part
of Tallinn is represented on the tourist map of the city by a single
point - Rocca al Mare, the main ethnographic museum in the country. Not
far from it is the Tallinn Zoo, which is not very advertised, but
invariably delights children, but other western quarters are hardly
suitable for walking with children. Those who are looking for new
experiences will surely like these places. The Kopli area, which has
grown up around the port of Tallinn, confidently claims to be the
“bottom” of Tallinn, but if you dive there, you will find interesting
monuments of industrial architecture and an Orthodox church from the
1930s. On the other side of the bay, the sleeping area Väike-Õismäe is
original in its layout. Finally, Pelgulinn and Kriistine are authentic
low-rise Tallinn: an ordinary, but beautiful and unlike city.
The center is the Town Hall Square (estn. Raekoja plats), which is
surrounded by the Gothic Town Hall, first mentioned in 1322 but built in
the 13th century, and other stately buildings. The town hall's viewing
platform, which is open to the public, offers an excellent view of the
city, harbor and bay. Tallinn's landmark - the figure of the town
servant "Alter Thomas" (estn. Vana Toomas) - has adorned the top of the
tower since 1530. The two gargoyles in the shape of dragons are from the
17th century.
Opposite is the Ratsapotheke (estn. Raeapteek). It
was first mentioned in documents in 1422, making it one of the two
oldest still active pharmacies in Europe (the other is in Dubrovnik).
After renovations in the 16th century, the Johann Burchart family,
originally from Hungary, rented the pharmacy and ran it for over 300
years.
The city wall is one of the most important sights of the
city. In the Middle Ages Tallinn was one of the best fortified cities on
the Baltic Sea. The construction of the fortifications started in the
second half of the 13th century; it continued for the next 300 years.
Since the weapons were constantly becoming more powerful, they had to be
continuously improved. The finished wall was eventually 2.35 km long,
13–16 m high, 2–3 m thick and had over 40 towers. Today there are still
1.85 km of wall and 26 towers. The Mud Gate was one of the main gates of
medieval Tallinn and has been rebuilt several times. Today only the
front gate remains. In the Middle Ages, the city wall had six gates, all
of which had one or two front gates, suspension bridges over the moat
and portcullis, including the Great Beach Gate with Fat Margaret. When
the Great Beach Gate was built, it was so close to the shore that the
waves would smash against the gate during a storm. The front gate with
the cannon tower Dicke Margarethe, the diameter of which is 25 m, has
been preserved. Today it houses the Estonian Maritime Museum, which
provides an overview of the history of seafaring and fishing.
Worth seeing is the Kiek in de Kök, a former cannon tower from the 15th
century, which was the strongest cannon tower in the Baltic States at
the time. Other towers of Reval's city fortifications are the Golden
Foot, the Loewenschede Tower, the Reeperbahn Tower and the Epping Tower.
The St. Nicholas Church (estn. Niguliste kirik), a late Gothic stone
church, dates from the beginning of the 13th century. The main altar by
the Lübeck master Hermen Rode from 1481 and the fragment of the Dance of
Death by the Lübeck master Bernt Notke are worth mentioning. It is an
example of the "merchants' churches" that were widespread in the 13th
century (the roof truss of the church served as a warehouse). It also
served as a fortified church. From the 15th century it was rebuilt into
a basilica. It was the only church to survive the iconoclasm of the
Reformation, because, as the story goes, the head of the church had the
door locks cast in lead. After being severely damaged by a bomb attack
in 1944, the church is now a museum and concert hall. To the south of
the church stands the oldest tree in Reval, the Chalice Lime. The
Radbrunnen, already mentioned in 1375, is located on Raderstrasse
(Rataskaev).
The Church of the Holy Spirit (estn. Pühavaimu
kirik), added in the 14th century as a chapel to the Holy Spirit
Hospital for the Poor, had two functions: the church of the poorhouse
and the council chapel. It has a late medieval winged altar by the
Lübeck master Bernt Notke from the 15th century and a clock from the
17th century made by the master Christian Ackermann.
The Olai
Church (estn. Oleviste kirik), named after the Norwegian King Olaf II,
who promoted the Christianization of Northern Europe, was first
mentioned in the 13th century. The tower can be climbed and offers
excellent views of the entire city. Nearby is the historical horse mill
and the historical building complex Three Sisters, which is used as a
hotel.
The House of the Brotherhood of Blackheads housed a
fraternity unique in Europe, existing only in Old Livonia (Estonia and
Latvia). It brought together unmarried German-born merchants. Acceptance
into the guild paved the way for a successful career and city council.
The name House of the Blackheads refers to the patron saint of the
Brotherhood, the early Christian martyr Mauritius. The Brotherhood
existed in Tallinn from around 1400 to 1940 and has been active in
Germany ever since. The facade of the house is in the style of the 16th
century Dutch Renaissance. At ground level are the coats of arms of the
Hanseatic offices of Bruges, Novgorod, London and Bergen. Russian tsars
Peter I, Paul and Alexander I were honorary members of the brotherhood
and visited this house.
On the northern edge of Tallinn's Old
Town stands the Katkenud liin (Broken Line) sculpture made of steel and
black granite by the sculptor Villu Jaanisoo on September 28, 1996,
exactly two years after the accident. It is dedicated to the
commemoration of the sinking of the ferry Estonia, which took place due
to an insufficiently closed tailgate and cost the lives of 852 people. A
"waterway" leads in a wide curve from a hill to a chasm and breaks off
over it. Far beyond the point of fracture, the arch continues and the
"waterway" plunges into the ground. A black granite slab with the names
of the drowned rests under the lower demolition point. The relatives lay
flowers, wreaths and lanterns here and on the arch above.
Only the northern and western walls and three towers remain of the
medieval Toompea Castle (estn. Toompea loss), including Tall Hermann
(estn. Pikk Hermann), built in the 14th century. In the 15th century it
was increased again by 10 m to 50 m. In the Middle Ages it was used as a
prison, among other things. After the separation from the Tsarist Empire
in 1918, the blue, black and white flag was hoisted on the tower for the
first time, which was replaced by a red one in 1940 in the course of the
Soviet occupation. In 1989 the Estonian flag was hoisted there again and
this happens every day at sunrise; when the sun goes down, it is caught
up again.
Next to it is the representative castle, the major
conversions of which were initiated by the Russian Tsarina Catherine II
in the 18th century. Today it is the seat of Parliament. The government
resides in the Stenbockhaus.
Located on the church square where
eight historic streets intersect, the Cathedral Church is dedicated to
the Blessed Virgin Mary. Construction began in the 13th century, making
it one of the oldest churches in the city. Later in the 14th century it
was rebuilt into a three-aisled Gothic-style basilica, modeled on the
Gotland churches. Tallinn Gothic belongs to the so-called Limestone
Gothic. The church was badly damaged in the fire of 1684. Most of the
facility was destroyed. The new interior is baroque. 107 coat of arms
epitaphs of Estonian nobles have been preserved, as well as many grave
monuments of well-known personalities such as Pontus de la Gardie, the
commander of the Swedes in the Livonian War, Adam Johann von
Krusenstern, the well-known admiral, circumnavigator and explorer,
Samuel Greigh, the Scottish admiral, who was responsible for Catherine
II .won many victories, and others more. There are two family lodges
from the 18th century, one of the von Patkul family and one of the von
Manteuffel family. The existing Ladegast organ was perfected in the
workshop of the Berlin master Sauer. The cathedral church is now a
Lutheran church with a 600-strong congregation.
The Russian
Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (estn. Aleksander Nevski katedraal)
with its onion domes visible from afar was built between 1894 and 1900
as a symbol of the Russification of Estonia. Therefore, the Estonian
population could hardly be happy about this dominant "foreign" building
for a long time. It is now another tourist attraction in the old town.
There are also many classical aristocratic houses on the Domberg,
such as the Schlippenbach House on the Schlossplatz.
The Katharinental Castle (estn. Kadriorg) is located on the outskirts
of the city. Reval's German cemetery Ziegelskupplung (estn. Kopli),
located on the peninsula of the same name north of the old town, the
scene of some of Werner Bergengruen's stories, and the cemetery of the
Grays, i.e. the Estonian population, on the Fischermai are no longer
sights. Both were converted to parks in the 1960s. Enclosure walls and
rows of trees still show the earlier use, but all gravestones have been
removed. While in the Fischermai (Kalamaja) an inscription on the
recently restored entrance gate of the cemetery reminds of the earlier
use, the cemetery of Ziegelskupplung can only be found by comparing old
and new city maps.
In the Pirita district, northeast of the city
center, there is a marina and an extensive sandy beach bordered by a
pine forest. On warm summer days there is a party atmosphere and the
beach is often very crowded. The promenade between Pirita and the city
center is particularly popular with joggers and inline skaters. Here are
the impressive ruins of the Cistercian Abbey of St. Brigitten, a now
roofless nave the size of a capital cathedral, destroyed by Russian
troops in the 16th century. Outbuildings can still be seen as remains of
the wall. The Birgitta Festival has been held on the site of the former
monastery since 2005.
The offshore island of Naissaar in Tallinn
Bay offers an idyllic change.
The TV tower (estn. Teletorn) with
its viewing platform and a restaurant, which is open all year round from
10 a.m. to 11 p.m., offers the best view of the city and even as far as
the Finnish coast when visibility is good. The television tower can be
reached by bus line 34A (Teletorn station).
The Tallinn Zoo,
founded in 1939, as well as the Estonian Open Air Museum are located in
the Rocca al Mare district.
1 Niguliste Church (est.:
Niguliste kirik). The church in the south of the old town is one of the
most important churches in the city. It contains the altar by Herman
Rode from the 15th century and the altar of Mary (late 15th century). A
fragment of Bernt Notke's “Lübeck Dance of Death” can also be seen
there. Today it is believed that this is not part of the original
painting, but that a replica was made for Tallinn, of which the fragment
on display in St. Nicholas Church is the only one left. After being
badly damaged by a bomb attack in 1944, the church is now a museum and
concert hall.
2 Saint
Olav's Church (est.: Oleviste kirik). At the northern end of the old
town is the church "St. Olai” (St. Olav), whose tower offers great views
over the old town.
3
Alexander Nevsky
Cathedral Cathedral. Opposite the palace is the mighty Russian
Orthodox "Alexander Nevsky Cathedral", a clear sign of the Russian
presence.
4 Saint Mary's Cathedral
(est.: Tallinna Piiskoplik Toomkirik). The simple Protestant cathedral
#is the main preaching church of the Archbishop of the Estonian
Evangelical Lutheran Church.
5
Holy Spirit Church (est.:
Püha Vaimu kirik)
Dominican Monastery (Dominiiklaste klooster)
Pirita Convent of Saint Brigitta (Pirita Klooster)
Toompea Castle (est.: Toompea loss). On Toompea, opposite the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, is the palace where the Russian governors resided. Today it is the seat of the Estonian Parliament.
Tallinn is famous for its Old Town, part of the UNESCO World
Heritage. The oldest buildings and streets date back to the 11th
century. The outstanding building is the Gothic town hall and the
associated forecourt. 80 percent of the old town was built in the Middle
Ages.
Apart from a Russian bombing raid during the Second World
War, the city was spared from major destruction, so that large parts of
the medieval city center have been preserved.
Kiek in de
Kok and bastion corridors (est.: Kiek in de Kök ("Look
in the kitchen") ja Bastioni käigud). A must for those interested in
walls, towers, cannons and the like. Here is a museum about the
defenses. The massive tower is 38m high, so high that medieval guards
joked that they could see into the chimneys and kitchens of the houses
below the tower. The tower is also the starting point for the
fascinating system of hidden tunnels (bastion passages) that run under
the old bastions of Toompea. From the café on the top floor you have a
very nice view of the old town. Kiek in de Kök was originally built in
the 1470s but was quickly expanded and strengthened so that the walls
are now four meters thick. The investment paid off: during the Livonian
War in the late 16th century, Ivan the Terrible's soldiers managed to
shoot a huge hole in the upper floor, but the tower withstood the
attack. As part of the post-war repairs, a row of four cannonballs was
placed in the new wall as a memorial. You can still see them on the
southeast side of the tower.
Great Beach Gate and
Fat Margaret Tower (est.:
Suur Rannavarav ja Paks Margareeta). The Große Strandpforte and the
Dicke Margarethe were built to protect the city from attacks from the
sea and to impress the guests coming from the sea. The Great Beach Gate,
which was built at the same time as the city wall, is located in the
northern part of the old town in the immediate vicinity of the port.
During the reconstruction of the gate in the early 16th century, the Fat
Margaret turret was built nearby, which now houses the Estonian Maritime
Museum.
Town Hall Pharmacy/
Raeapteek (est.: Reval
Raeapteek), Raekoja plats 11. The oldest pharmacy in Europe is located
in Tallinn. Look out for the Raeapteek sign. It was founded in 1422.
House of Blackheads
Brotherhood (est.: Mustpeade maja). The house is pretty much the only
surviving Renaissance building in the city. The Brotherhood was formed
in 1399. It brought together young, unmarried merchants before they were
accepted as members of the Great Guild. Foreign merchants who stayed
here for a long time but did not live here permanently could also join
the brotherhood.
Kadriorg Palace (Kadrioru loss)
Great Guild Hall (Suurgildi hoone)
Russalka Monument. The monumental "Russalka Monument" commemorates the sinking of the naval ship Russalka (Russian for Mermaid) in 1893.
Estonian Historical Museum in the House of the Great Guild (Suurgildi
hoone, est.: Eesti Ajaloomuuseum - Suurgildi hoone). The museum is in
the Great Guild House, which is itself a 15C showpiece. It's no surprise
that the gabled hall, with its huge terrace and lion's head knockers,
belonged to the Great Guild. The members, who had to be married German
merchants, controlled the city council. Films and displays show how
people fought and survived over the past 11,000 years. The coin cabinet
entitled Fast Money shows various means of payment from Estonian
history. The basement room "Power of the Elite" shows the history of the
museum building itself. The armory houses weapons from all eras, with
simulators imitating the sound of the respective weapon. The museum
cooperates with the tactical shooting center (Kopli 103), which allows
trying out historical weapons.
Estonian Museum of Natural History
(est.: Eeest Loodusmuuseum). The museum wants to bring visitors closer
to nature and show the secrets of flora and fauna. On the ground floor
are changing exhibitions, on the first floor the "inhabitants" of the
Baltic Sea are presented with the coasts, rivers and swamps with their
various creatures. You can see a giant catfish, polar bears and
penguins. The 2nd floor is also dedicated to the biodiversity in Estonia
with its countless forests and meadows. The large exhibition of mammals,
birds and insects gives a good overview of their activities and reveals
their secrets. The permanent exhibitions offer a fascinating insight
into Estonia's landscapes and its inhabitants, trying to fathom the role
of man.
Tallinn City Museum (est.: Tallinna Linnamuuseum). In a
medieval merchant's house, where Tallinn life is vividly presented
through images, sound effects and objects from different times. It
presents the history of the city from the 13th century to the present
day.
KUMU Art Museum (est.: Eesti Kunstimuuseum), Weizenbergi 34.
Tel.: +372 602 6000, fax: +372 602 6002, e-mail: kumu.info@ekm.ee. The
Museum in Kadriorg Park is the most modern and largest art museum in the
Baltic States. Its inventory includes Estonian art since the 18th
century. Open: Wed. 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Thursday to Sunday 11:00
a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays). Price: Admission:
€5.50; reduced: €3.20.
Naval Museum (est.: Eesti Meeremuuseum).
Interesting is the Naval Museum, from the roof of which you have a nice
overview of the city.
Occupation Museum (est.: Okupatioonide
Muuseum), Toompea 8. Tel: +372 668 0250. The 'Occupation Museum' opened
in 2003 and is themed around the different phases of foreign rule that
Estonians endured in the 20th century ( Russian and German occupations
between 1939 and 1991). In addition to some video presentations, in
which contemporary witnesses of the occupation have their say and the
historical background is presented, there are a number of sometimes
bizarre exhibits from the occupation period - from the military
equipment and weapons of the occupiers to bronze statues of Soviet
Russian party leaders.
St. Catherine's Convent. In the building of
the former Dominican monastery, erected in 1246, there is a small museum
that mainly shows relics of medieval architecture. There isn't much to
see, but the ambience in the cloister and the monastery garden is second
to none.
Patarei. Actually not a real museum. Originally built as a
sea fortress, it served as a prison for years and now offers a macabre
glimpse into prison life in Soviet times. Open: Unfortunately now
completely closed to visitors. Price: Admission adults 3 €.
Estonian
Open Air Museum (Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum, Rocca al Mare), Vabaõhumuuseumi
tee 12, 13521 Tallinn. Tel: +372 654 9101. The museum's 14 farmhouses
give an overview of how families of different wealth and occupations
lived from the 18th to the 20th century. Open: 04/23 - 09/28 from 10
a.m. to 8 p.m. Price: Adults from €9, children free.
Estonian Museum
of Healthcare (est.: Eesti Tervishoiummuuseum). The permanent exhibition
Open and Honest About Your Body is located in two medieval buildings in
the old town. The exhibition rooms are themed and literally take the
human body apart by examining all the organs in more detail.
Stone
Carving Museum (est.: Raidkivimuuseum). In a tunnel part of the Inger
Bastion from the late 17th century, where valuable decorative and
exciting Tallinn stone relief fragments are exhibited: portals,
decorative columns, family badges, terrace stones with symbols, and
window frames with reliefs from the 15th century.
Seaport (est.:
Lennusadam). Maritime museum with interesting exhibits from the past and
present.
Estonian History Museum in Maarjamäe Castle (est.: Eesti
Ajaloomuuseum - Maarjamäe Loss). Located near the Pirita promenade, the
castle has recently been renovated, giving a new look to the old summer
hall and café. From the imposing castle tower you have a beautiful view
of Tallinn Bay. The Maarjamäe Castle complex also houses the recently
opened Estonian Film Museum, exciting outdoor exhibitions, relaxation
areas and a children's playground.
The main thing in Tallinn is walking around the city, its different
districts. They go well with sitting in cafes and observing local life,
whether it's an endless stream of tourists in the Old Town, citizens
scurrying about their business in the Kesklinn area, or native
Tallinners enjoying peace and tranquility somewhere in Nõmme.
Of
the museums, it is worth visiting the ethnographic one (the Rocca al
Mare open-air museum) and both marine ones (in the Fat Margaret Tower
and in the Seaplane Harbor). The historical theme is briefly but
succinctly revealed by the city museum, located, moreover, in a Gothic
medieval house. In the art museum, the collections are not quite
world-class, but only here you can see such exotic things as Estonian
painting. In addition, there are several places in the Old Town where
medieval art is shown: these are the Niguliste Church, the Church of the
Holy Spirit and the Dome Church of the Upper Town - by European
standards, it is quite modest, but pretty, and given the position of
Estonia on the map, it is generally unique.
With children, it is
worth visiting the Maritime Museum in the Seaplane Harbor and the zoo,
and with older children, the Energia Discovery Center, where physical
phenomena are clearly presented and there is, for example, a
planetarium. Many Estonian museums offer children some kind of
interactive, but it’s better to clarify this in advance - there are also
museums where everything is only in Estonian, and even adults can get
bored. Kadriorg and the square to the west of the Old Town, where there
are playgrounds, are well suited for walking.
Movies in Tallinn
cinemas are usually shown in their original language with Russian and
Estonian subtitles. Russian films are not dubbed, they come with
subtitles in Estonian. Some cinemas offer films in 3D, for fans there is
Ahhaa Kino with 4D and Kristiine Kino with 5D.
You can find out
the program of upcoming events and concerts, as well as purchase tickets
at Piletilevi points, there is also a website [1], which contains
schedules of concerts and performances in theaters, cinemas and churches
in Tallinn. However, the Russian version of this site is much worse than
the Estonian one, so if you do not know Estonian, this site will not
help you much, which is a pity.
Free concerts in churches
By
the way, some churches in Tallinn periodically host 1-hour free
concerts:
Pühavaimu – 18:00, Monday + Christmas
Kaarli — 17:30,
Tuesday
Toomkirik - 11:00, Saturday
Mihkli - sometimes early in
the morning
Church of Alexander Nevsky - sometimes there are, at
different times
Yaani - sometimes Christmas or New Year (rare)
About half of the flights to Tallinn are operated by the
national airline Nordica, operating under the "roof" of the Polish LOT,
and therefore integrated into Star Alliance. Statuses, miles and service
levels are the same as on Polish flights, but tickets are sold
separately and there are no connections with other Star Alliance
airlines. Aeroflot flies from Moscow twice a day, there are also daily
flights to St. Petersburg and Kyiv. Convenient connections are offered
by Finnair (Helsinki), Air Baltic (Riga) and Lufthansa (Frankfurt).
The nearest major airport to Tallinn is Helsinki, but from there it
is much more convenient to get to Tallinn by air, since the journey from
the airport to the pier and then by ferry will take at least 3.5 hours.
From Riga airport to Tallinn, expect 5.5 hours, from St. Petersburg -
even longer.
1 Tallinn International Airport (Lennart Meri
Tallinna Lennujaam, also known as Ülemiste; IATA: TLL). One of the most
comfortable European airports welcomes passengers with soft carpet and
original design. Each corner of the terminal is decorated in its own
way: in one there are soft chairs and a small library, in another there
is a piano, in the third there is a children's play area. Plenty of
tables, outlets and of course free Wi-Fi. With food, the situation is
less rosy: coffee and sweets are not cheaper than in Western European
airports, but you can get a bowl of soup for about €4, and a second
course for €8-10: pay attention to the cafe in the check-in area and
Mamma Bistroo & Kohvik in sterile area. There is only one cafe behind
passport control (only drinks and sandwiches); if two flights depart at
the same time, it can be crowded.
How to get there: Tallinn
Airport is unique in that it is located near the city center, you can
walk in 40 minutes. Tram number 4 runs to the airport, reducing travel
time to 15 minutes. During the day, the traffic interval is 10 minutes,
the stop is located at the northern edge of the terminal. There is a bus
stop in the center of the terminal where buses to/from Tartu arrive.
City bus number 2, which runs 2-3 times an hour, also stops there, which
is convenient because it goes to the center of Tallinn and further to
the passenger port. Before boarding a tram or bus, go to the R-kiosk and
buy a smart card (see Transport). A taxi to the center costs about €10.
Flying by plane is more convenient than traveling by
train. Trains from Riga via Valga and Tartu take so long that they have
no practical meaning, unless, of course, you want to see the cities
along the way. There is a daily RZD train from Moscow via St.
Petersburg. The total travel time is 16 hours, and the schedule is
arranged so that the train runs between St. Petersburg and Tallinn
during the day, and between Moscow and St. Petersburg at night. The
train has cars of all types: from the seat to the SV. A ticket to St.
Petersburg in a seated car is about €20 (comparable to buses), a
reserved seat or compartment to Moscow is €70-80 (20-30% cheaper than an
airplane). The easiest way to buy tickets is through the Russian
Railways website; electronic registration is available in both
directions. There is also a ticket office at the Tallinn railway
station, and GoTravel, which has offices in several cities of the
country, sells paper tickets for any Russian trains in Estonia.
2
Baltic Station (Balti jaam), Toompuiestee 37 (tm.1,2). Located on the
western border of the Old City. Most of the building is occupied by a
Selver supermarket (7:00–23:00), and the station itself is a short
corridor from the entrance from the street to the exit to the platform
with ticket offices located along the way. There are several shops in
the same corridor, there is no waiting room. Luggage storage on the
platform (Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00, Sat 9:00–17:00, Sun 10:00–17:00). Near the
station, there is an R-kiosk (7:00-21:00) and a small cafe-shop
(6:00-24:00) like those found at gas stations. Near the station,
including behind the tram tracks, there are several inexpensive eateries
and a 24-hour samsa kiosk.
Suburban trains from Narva and Tartu
also stop at the station Ülemiste 3, from where it is a 10-minute walk
to the airport and bus station.
Tallinn is connected by
direct bus service to all cities in Estonia. The main international
destinations are Riga (Riia, 4.5 hours) and St. Petersburg (Peterburi,
6.5-8 hours). Buses to Riga leave on average every hour, some of them
then go to Vilnius, Kaunas, Minsk and even Warsaw. The travel time to
Riga for all buses is almost the same, there is usually only one
intermediate stop - the city of Pärnu. Communication with St. Petersburg
is arranged differently: some buses make the only stop in Narva,
covering the entire journey in 6.5 hours or even faster, depending on
the time it takes to cross the border. However, there are also slower
buses that enter cities by road, which increases the total travel time
by 1.5-2 hours.
The bus to Pskov (Pihkva) runs once a day, the
journey takes 6 hours. You can also go with a change in Tartu or by
train to the border.
On the main international routes - Riga and
St. Petersburg - there are several operators. All of them sometimes
offer cheap tickets for €8-10 (one way), keep an eye out for sales.
Sometimes it is convenient to buy a ticket together with a hotel
reservation. On Ecolines buses, you will most likely find a coffee
machine, Wi-Fi and sockets. LUX Express has buses with different levels
of comfort: Simple Express (reminiscent of Ecolines), Lux Express (more
expensive, free bottle of water) and Lux Express Lounge - “first class”,
where there are only two seats in each row. The loading of buses depends
on the day of the week and time of the year, it is better to take
tickets in advance via the Internet.
4 Central Bus Station
(Autobussijaam) , Lastekodu 46 ( tm.2.4, bus. 2.17.23). 5:00–1:00.
Located southeast of the center very close to Tartu mnt, about halfway
between the Old Town and the airport. The bus station is a
state-of-the-art building with monitors on every corner displaying the
current timetable. There are also ticket offices, ticket machines,
automatic luggage storage (€2/€3), R-kiosk (Mon–Sat 6:30–21:30, Sun
7:00–21:30) and a cozy cafeteria (7 :30–21:00) with hot meals for €4-6.
If you go around the bus station, on the right side you will find an
almost round-the-clock pizzeria Peetri Pizza (10:00 - 6:00, but after 22
service through the window) and a Rimi supermarket (8:00 - 22:00). There
are nicer cafes on Tartu mnt. towards the center.
Buses arriving
in Tallinn usually make intermediate stops at the border of the city:
From Tartu – Lennujaam (airport)
From St. Petersburg and Narva -
Mustakivi, which is east of Lasnamae
From Riga, Pääsküla and the
islands - Vana-Pääsküla on the southern border of the Nõmme region
Several major Estonian roads converge in Tallinn, so wherever you start your journey, getting to the capital is not difficult. You can come to Tallinn by land from Russia and Latvia, and by ferry from Stockholm and Helsinki (see Estonia). From Riga along the E67 highway 308 km, from St. Petersburg along the E20 highway 370 km. The Riga highway is almost entirely two-lane, but quite easy to pass, the border between Estonia and Latvia is purely nominal. The border with Russia, on the contrary, is the most real one, and it is better to plan its passage in advance (see Estonia). The route to St. Petersburg is also two-lane, with the exception of the 100-kilometer section in front of Tallinn. Road condition is good.
Ferry service
connects Tallinn with Helsinki, Stockholm, Mariehamn and St. Petersburg.
The main destination is Helsinki, where during the summer period there
can be more than 10 flights per day, and the duration of the trip varies
from 2 to 3.5 hours, depending on the type of vessel. All ferries are
year-round and carry cars. Formally, there is Internet on the ferries,
but, of course, it does not work most of the way.
Tallink/Silja
Line - up to 6 trips a day on Star and Superstar ferries, 2 hours on the
way. You can also take a ride on cruise ships Baltic Express or Silja
Europa, which reach Helsinki in 3.5 hours. The daily night ferry to
Stockholm goes 16 hours and early in the morning (on the way back - late
in the evening) makes an intermediate stop in Mariehamn.
Viking Line
- 2-5 times a day, 2.5 hours on the way
Eckerö Line - twice a day on
the Finlandia, 2.5 hours on the way
St. PeterLine is a weekly ferry
line from St. Petersburg.
The passenger port of Tallinn has two
terminals:
Terminal A, Sadama 25. Open all day, the exact opening
hours depend on the arrival schedule of the ships. Operated by Viking
Line, Eckerö Line and St. peterline. Inside the ticket office and
registration for ferries. The road to the terminal starts from the Old
Margaret Tower in the Old City and leads through a long covered market
where they sell everything from souvenirs to meat and dairy products.
Terminal D, Lootsi 13. 6:00 AM–1:00 AM. Tallink ferries moor here,
bringing the bulk of Finnish tourists to Tallinn. Around the terminal, a
powerful trade is deployed with a predominance of alcohol. There are
also many food outlets, since some “tourists” go to Tallinn exclusively
for vodka and do not even try to go to the city. The terminal itself is
subtly similar to the previous two and there is, in general, nothing to
do there.
All terminals can be reached on foot or by bus number 2
(he has the final one here: Reisisadam). From terminal A you can get to
terminal D using a footbridge. Ferries to Helsinki start 30 minutes and
end 20 minutes before departure. Before boarding, you need to check in
and get a boarding pass, which is issued at the window or at the
self-service terminal. Tickets from Tallinn to Helsinki cost from €19 to
€45, and a round-trip trip on the same day gives a considerable discount
and, with a good deal, will cost you €25-30.
Tallinn is pleasant to walk around, especially
if you have shoes suitable for the cobblestones of the Old Town. In
other areas, there are no paving stones, there are enough pedestrian
paths, and in the outskirts like Nõmme, you can take long walks without
almost touching cars. For longer routes, a bicycle is fine, although
there is no space for bicycles on the roadway, and you will often have
to ride on the sidewalk. In the center of Tallinn, there is a city bike
rental from Sixt: the first half hour is free, then €1/h or €10/day
(2017). If you need a more decent bike, there is a special bike rental
point in the Old Town:
City Bike, Vene 33. 10:00–18:00. From
€15/day. A wide range of bikes, including mountain bikes, tandems and
electric bikes. There is also a repair shop.
Tallinn transport is represented by 4 tram, 4 trolleybus and several
dozen bus routes, which operate from 5:30 to midnight. Timetables,
convenient maps and even a route planner are available on a special
website, available immediately in 6 (!) languages. Paradoxically, there
is no official mobile app for public transport in Tallinn; there are
different ones that are not quite relevant and unofficial, so it’s
better to use the mobile version of the same site.
Stop
Hobujaama. Docking trams of all four routes, located next to the hotel
Viru.
Stop Viru (Viru Keskuse bussiterminal). The underground bus
station is the end of a good half of Tallinn buses. A gloomy place,
which, however, has minimal infrastructure: shops and even a waiting
room.
Tickets (2020 prices):
single ticket from the driver -
€2, valid for an hour
one-time ticket in the form of a QR code for a
phone — €1.50, purchased on the website
Ühiskaart smart card in
e-wallet mode: €1.50 for a single ticket (for 1 hour), after three trips
these tickets automatically turn into a full day ticket (€4.50)
tickets for 3 days (€7.50), 5 days (€9) and 30 days (€30) are loaded
onto the smart card.
Smart cards with a security deposit of €2
are sold in shops like R-kiosk, you can top up your balance there or via
the Internet. The card must be applied to the validator at each entrance
to the transport. Several people can use one smart card: to do this, you
need to attach a card, select the number of tickets with the arrows and
attach the card again as confirmation. In practice, however, this does
not work very well, and more often than not, the machine writes off one
trip, but does not let you write off the rest, so it is better to use
the smart card individually. In addition, only for individual use, three
trips are converted into a day ticket.
Public transport is free
for Tallinn card holders. The ride is also free for all preschoolers and
passengers with children under 3 years of age.
Trains within the
city belong to the first zone, a ticket can be bought from the conductor
(€1.40) or on the Elron website (€1.19). Smart city transport cards are
not valid.
Taxi rides require a minimum of discretion.
Most often, you will be driven strictly according to the meter in
accordance with the prices posted on the glass outside and inside the
car, but in the area of the Old Town and the passenger port it is
better to be on the alert: unscrupulous taxi drivers are still found
there. Fares are highly dependent on the company and range from €0.40 to
€0.90 per km, usually more expensive at night than during the day. If
you prefer mobile apps, use Bolt, Taxigo or UBER. In Taxigo, you can
choose a car, focusing on the tariff of a taxi company, Bolt offers a
fixed fare, like Uber. The Tallinn site Taxofon offers only expensive
cars.
Several inexpensive taxi companies: IR Takso (+372
638-00-00), Sinu Takso (+372 660-60-60), Amigo Takso (+372 662-11-11),
Sky/Star Takso (+372 644- 84-47). Low prices correlate with the quality
of service - it is not always possible to get through on the first call.
As a rule, all dispatchers and drivers speak Russian, so there
should be no misunderstanding. Unlike other countries and cities,
Tallinn dispatchers do not ask for the final destination of the trip, do
not set a price and do not call back when the car has arrived. The full
list of Tallinn taxis is here. It is not customary to ride a hitch in
Tallinn (unfortunately).
Driving in Tallinn is easy,
but parking can be tricky. Traffic jams happen only during rush hours,
the rest of the time the roads are quite free. The road surface is
noticeably worse than in the rest of Estonia.
The center of
Tallinn within the boundaries of the Kesklinn district is a paid parking
zone, and even if you drive into a courtyard or a wasteland, there will
most likely be a sign offering to pay for parking, even the most
disorganized one. In Estonia, drivers are required to have a special
parking clock, which must be left in a conspicuous place when leaving
the car. The first 15 minutes of parking are free, then you have to pay
by sending an SMS with information about the car to the number indicated
on the sign (this service is available only for customers of Estonian
operators). If you do not have an Estonian number, you will have to look
for a parking attendant or a parking machine, but both are few and far
between. Parking usually costs €1–2 per hour or €4–8 per day, and you
only need to pay on weekdays 7–19 and on Saturdays 8–15. In the old
town, the price rises to €4.60 per hour, regardless of the day of the
week and time of day. Parking in the Pirita area is also paid.
Thus, it is best to leave the car in a secure parking lot in Tallinn and
use it as little as possible: anyway, you won’t need it in the city
center, and you can always get to the outskirts by public transport.
Estonia is a country of active consumption, so shopping centers are
literally at every step. You can easily find a grocery supermarket
anywhere in Tallinn, open from 8 am to 10-11 pm. The largest networks
are Selver, Rimi, Maxima, Prisma. Small grocery stores have also not
gone away and are still found in residential areas. Two shopping centers
- Viru keskus and Solaris - are located on the border of the Old Town,
some others (Kristiine keskus, Rocca-Al-Mare, Ülemiste Keskus) are just
a few stops by public transport. For small purchases (press, drinks,
SIM-cards) there is a network of R-kiosks open from morning until late
in the evening. Bank cards are accepted everywhere, regardless of the
purchase amount. When buying in one place in the amount of €38, you can
apply for tax-free.
The markets in Tallinn are quite curious.
They combine beautiful, sometimes tourist-oriented examples of local
products with goods that seem to have come off the shelves of Soviet
department stores, as well as all the paraphernalia of street vendors,
down to dubious eateries and speculators. The Balti Jaama Turg market
closest to the Old Town (next to the railway station) has practically
got rid of these attributes of the past, but they are fully represented
in the central market (Keskturg). Inside the Old City, the markets are
entirely tourist oriented. In the area of the Viru gates, they trade all
year round, but on the Town Hall Square, the market is set up from time
to time - for example, before Christmas.
Iconic Tallinn souvenirs
are hand-knitted woolen goods and roasted nuts from Olde Hansa. In the
Old City, both are sold at every turn, and nuts cause an addictive
effect for many, so they sell them at the airport in case you ate the
previous portion on the way. No less popular are the Estonian chocolate
Kalev and the sweet liqueur Vana Tallinn: both manufacturers are
actively working to expand their product line, so the liquor is
available in a dozen varieties, and there are simply countless varieties
of sweets, chocolate and marzipan. Another edible and not quite obvious
souvenir from Estonia is black bread, which is unlike bread in other
countries of the world, and it is also sold at the airport: the case is
almost unique! Dense Estonian bread does not go stale for several days
and therefore does not lose its taste during transportation.
In
the center of Tallinn, there are several currency exchange offices that
accept dollars and rubles at a bad rate. It is better to withdraw money
from ATMs, which are available in sufficient quantities throughout the
city. Bank branches are easiest to find in shopping centers, but they
are of little use. Estonia systematically refuses to use cash, so many
bank branches do not have cash desks at all and are only engaged in
issuing accounts, i.e. for travelers they are meaningless.
Cafes and restaurants in Tallinn will please even the most fastidious
traveler, whether he is at least a gourmet, even a housekeeper who
counts every penny. The lion's share of restaurants is located in the
Old Town, is aimed at tourists, so the prices here are above average.
Going to a cafe at random, you will probably pay at least €20 for a full
dinner and decide that Tallinn is a very expensive city, but if you look
around carefully or just read a guidebook, then even in the Old Town you
can meet half the amount . Outside the Old Town, prices become the usual
Estonian ones, dinner with drinks costs €10–15, and lunch can be between
€5–7. However, in the center of Tallinn there is another "hotbed" of
expensive restaurants with gourmet cuisine - this is the Rotermanni
district and the new sparkling buildings around it.
Of course,
every traveler wants to try "traditional Estonian dishes" in Tallinn.
The question, however, is what exactly is considered traditional here.
One side of the coin is the medieval restaurants that have bred in the
Old Town, the food in which can equally well be considered traditionally
Estonian or traditionally German, but in any case historical - now they
don’t cook like that anywhere, and from the point of view of a modern
person, this is sometimes not very tasty. However, interest in
restaurants that completely reconstruct medieval traditions came from
Tallinn, so it’s worth visiting them. Perhaps the best place would be
Olde Hansa, where the reconstruction is done most accurately, but at the
same time not too intrusive.
The opposite niche is occupied by
cafes and restaurants of modern Estonian cuisine, which, in fact, borrow
the latest culinary trends from somewhere in France or Italy, but
complement them with local ingredients. This can be very curious, and
not only expensive restaurants, but also ordinary cheap cafes, including
those on the outskirts, are sometimes prone to culinary experiments. If
you want something tasty and not quite familiar - you are here.
Finally, right in the middle between the Middle Ages and the present,
there are alehouses. Here you will be offered cutlets, steaks,
omelettes, pork chops, fried fish... familiar? Of course: after all,
everyday Estonian food differs little from Russian. An attentive eye
will, of course, find many differences, but they mainly relate to
nuances and serving. In any case, Estonian pubs are the best choice for
those who want to eat hearty, tasty and inexpensive. The range of prices
is relatively small, even in the Old Town, and there are almost more
locals here than tourists. In some pubs on weekends it is noisy, live
music is played, but there are also quiet places that are no different
from ordinary cafes. In any case, an Estonian pub is a pleasant and
cultural place: not at all the same as a Russian one, although you need
to order at the counter here (remember this nuance: waiters only deliver
food, you have to go to get the menu yourself!) Menus are often written
with chalk on the board and only in Estonian, so a minimum knowledge of
the language will not hurt.
The niche of cheap food in Tallinn is
occupied not only by fast foods (McDonalds, Hesburger, Peetri Pizza - a
local network with inferior and not very cheap pizza), but also by
various cafeterias. Of course, they don’t exist in the Old Town, but
they already appear on its border: these are either canteens hiding
under the word kohvik (cafe), where they go to have lunch in the middle
of the working day (respectively, they work only on weekdays, until
15-17) , or open until late, seven days a week buffets in shopping
centers and supermarkets. Here you will get very good food, although
more expensive than in canteens. In any case, even cheap food in Tallinn
is quite varied, allowing you to completely avoid burgers, shawarma and
the like.
As in any large city, there are many cafes in Tallinn.
They are very different - expensive and cheap, homemade and deliberately
technological - but, surprisingly, always different: coffee chains have
not penetrated Tallinn either from Riga or from Russia. There is only a
local and very good Reval chain (Revel), and everything else is unique
establishments, many of which offer home-made cakes and cakes. Tallinn
cafes are also characterized by a rich assortment of pastries, so it’s
quite possible to drink coffee here for a couple of euros, and the cakes
will surely please you: they are usually local and completely different
from the cheesecakes that flooded Russia.
Cheap
On the market behind the train station you can order very
cheap, freshly prepared and sumptuous simple dishes at some stands.
1 Kohvik Sinilind, Müürivahe 50. Charming restaurant with retro
Soviet-era furniture and a remarkably diverse collection of lamps. Open:
daily from 12:00 p.m. to 02:00 a.m.
2 Compressor, Rataskaevu 3. Tel.:
+372 646 4210, e-mail: info@kompressorpub.ee. This alternative
restaurant, which consists of a large dining room, is located in the
middle of the old town. It is mainly frequented by young locals, but is
now sometimes overrun by tourists. It mainly offers two very tasty
dishes: For €3.50 there is a sauerkraut soup, which is typical for
Estonia. With various types of vegetables and a dollop of sour cream, a
good basis for dish no. 2: pancakes (pancakes). These are prepared
either sweet or savory. There are z. B. filled with chicken, mushrooms,
apples etc. They are huge and afterwards you are really full. Costs
around €6.50. Otherwise there is of course beer, coffee, vodka, etc.
Open: daily from 11:00 a.m.
3 Must Puudel, Müürivahe 20. Tel.: +372
505 6258. Fresh cuisine and the atmosphere of a Soviet living room.
Open: Mon, Tue, Sun 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.; Wed. 09:00 a.m. to 01:00
a.m.; Thurs., Fri., Sat., 09:00 a.m. to 02:00 a.m.
Middle
4
Olde Hansa, Vana Turg 1. Tel: +372 627 9020. Offers medieval food in
Tallinn's Old Town (Lower Town) at a good price. Although the restaurant
is located near the town hall square and has a rather touristy
impression, the food is excellent and the staff dressed in medieval
costumes are always in a good mood. Menus are available in many
languages (including German). If the service notices that you speak
German, German-speaking service will come if you are present.
5
Peppersack, Viru 2 / Vanaturg 6. Tel.: +372 6 466 800, e-mail:
peppersack@peppersack.ee. If the "Olde Hansa" is full, it's no big deal
- directly opposite is the Peppersack, which differs only slightly from
the concept of the Olde Hanse. Open: Monday to Saturday: 8:00 a.m. to
midnight, Sunday: 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
6 By Krahli Baar,
Rataskaevu 10/12. Tel.: +372 626 9096, e-mail: baar@vonkrahl.ee. Located
in the old town, the innovative and young "Von Krahli Teater" with its
bar also has a good and cheap kitchen. The selection of dishes is not
exactly extensive, but the food is very tasty and the ambience is also
quite tasteful here. It's not just a restaurant, more like a pub and
café, with live music often in the evenings. Young people usually meet
here accompanied by notebooks. It goes without saying that this place
has developed into a meeting place for artists. Open: Sun to Thurs 12:00
p.m. to 01:00 a.m., Fri and Sat 12:00 p.m. to 03:00 a.m.
7 Café
Chocolaterie de Pierre, Vene 6. Tel.: +372 641 8291, e-mail:
pierre@pierre.ee. We recommend a visit to the "Café Chocolaterie de
Pierre", which has been lovingly furnished in the French style and is
located a little east of the town hall in the old town.
Upscale
8 Restaurant Tchaikovsky, Vene 9. Tel: +372 6000 610, Email:
tchaikovsky@telegraafhotel.com. the renowned and award-winning
restaurant of the lovely Hotel Telegraaf, is considered one of the best
restaurants in Estonia with its Russian-French inspired cuisine. Right
in the old town. A visit is a must for friends of culinary delights.
Attention: Table reservations are definitely recommended! Open: Monday
to Friday 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 to 11:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
1:00 to 11:00 p.m.
The nightlife of Tallinn, especially within the Old Town, for a long
time went under the sign of alcohol and according to the principle of
"hang out to the fullest", which was greatly facilitated by the Finns
brought on the ferries. With the increase in excise taxes, the flow of
Finnish alcohol tourists began to decline, but did not dry up. You will
hardly want to take part in their nightlife. Moreover, a few bars and
nightclubs designed for Finns are probably the only place in the city
where something bad can happen to you.
With the exception of the
Old Town and such corners of evening life as the Rotermanni and
Telliskivi quarters, Tallinn goes to bed early: on weekdays everything
closes no later than 11 pm, on weekends establishments (especially pubs)
can open until midnight or one in the morning, and bars even longer.
There are at least a dozen bars in the center, where a decent audience
gathers, and it is usually not difficult for Finns to distinguish them
from hot places. There are also bars on the outskirts, and the audience
there is simpler: such places are quite safe, but in some places they
are very reminiscent of a Russian province.
Of the alcoholic
drinks in Tallinn, beer is the most common, which is actively brewed in
Estonia - both regular and craft. A glass of beer costs €3-5, wine is
usually even more expensive: from €4-5 for a small glass. Estonia is
also proud of its vodka, which, however, is more often drunk by drunks
in the yards than decent people in bars, where it is more appropriate to
take coffee with a glass of Vana Tallinn liqueur (besides the strong
herbal version, it exists in a soft creamy version reminiscent of
Baileys). In stores, the prices for alcohol are also high, by the
standards of Eastern Europe, and from 22 pm to 10 am alcohol is not sold
at all.
1 DM Bar, Voorimehe 4. Email: bar@depechemode.ee. Strange and not
only for fans of the band. This whitewashed basement bar is all about
the British electronic band. Only Depeche Mode songs and videos are
played, and posters and autographs hang on the walls. Even the cocktails
are named after the group's songs. Cocktail prices from 3 euros.
2
poodles, Telliskivi 60a. Tel.: +372 5866 4496, e-mail: info@pudel.ee.
Located in Telliskivi Creative City (Telliskivi Loomelinnak), a former
industrial site northwest of the train station. The sparsely furnished
bar offers guests an enormous selection of beers with an alcohol content
of up to 12% by volume. Here they are proud of not having the beer of a
large Estonian brewery.
3 Red Emperor Bar, Aia 10. Tel: +372 608
7387, email: redemperorbar@gmail.com. A very quirky pub with an equally
quirky crowd. A staircase leads from the somewhat hidden inner courtyard
entrance to the locked bar door on the first floor. The bartender opens
after ringing. Don't be alarmed: if you want to see wacky guys, you'll
see them here.
Housing prices in Tallinn are quite high. In the Old Town, a decent
double room costs from €50-60 even in the low season, while in summer
prices start from €70-80. In the Kesklinn area, the situation is
somewhat better, where in the low season you can stay for €30-40, but in
summer prices also skyrocket, and there may not be any free places. If
you are saving money, look for a hotel in any part of the city, even on
the outskirts: it will pay for itself, taking into account good and
cheap public transport, as well as taxis. Beds in hostels are
inexpensive, and there are also private rooms - also inexpensive, but
without amenities and microscopic size.
In addition to hotels and
hostels, you can rent an apartment for a few days. This is a rather
interesting option, since such apartments are often located in wooden
houses, allowing you to see Tallinn from the inside and just visit those
areas where you may never get to on your own. Wooden houses have tiny
rooms, but otherwise they provide the same level of comfort as any
other: they have all the amenities and hot water, and electric heaters
keep warm. In cheap Tallinn hotels there are no air conditioners, but,
with the exception of the rare hot days of the rare Tallinn summer, they
are completely unnecessary here.
Cheap
You can find cheap hostels throughout the city center with
dorm prices between €10 and €20:
1 Tallinn Backpackers, Olevmägi
11. Tel.: +372 644 0298, e-mail: info@tallinnbackpackers.com. A very
nice hostel right in the old town. Price: in a dormitory € 15, Fri.+Sat.
€ 18. last change: Apr. 2016 (details may be out of date) edit info
2
Red Emperor Hostel, Aia 10. Tel: +372 6150035, email:
craig@redemperorhostel.com. Price: dormitory €12-14, double €25.
Middle
3 The von Stackelberg Hotel, Toompuiestee 23, Tallinn. Tel.:
+372 66 00 700, Fax: +372 66 01 888, Email:
Reservation@vonstackelberghotel.com. The 4-star hotel is housed in a
19th-century city palace. Price: Standard double: €60, "Zen" single €74.
Last modified: Apr 2016 (information may be out of date)
upscale
4 Hotel Cru, Viru 8. Tel.: 6117600. Boutique hotel, lovingly furnished,
built in the 14th century, two saunas, a jacuzzi and a rustic wine
cellar belong to the house. The chef of Restaurant Cru with modern
Estonian cuisine, Dmitri Haljukov, represented his country at the Bocuse
d'Or Culinary Olympiad in Lyon in 2015.
5 Hotel Telegraaf, Vene 9.
Tel.: +372 6000 600, fax: +372 6000 601, email: info@telegraafhotel.com.
The former telegraph office, built in 1878, was completely renovated in
2007 and opened as a ***** hotel. It impresses with its central location
in the old town and offers 86 luxuriously furnished rooms and suites in
different categories as well as a small spa area with two cabins for
massages and cosmetic treatments, swimming pool and saunas, the renowned
and excellent Russian restaurant Tchaikovsky, the Symphony Lounge (can
also be used as a small event room) and a charming summer terrace in
summer. Price: double room from €165, suite from €355.
For digital nomads, there are several co-working spaces (e.g. Spring Hub, Lift99) or a visit to the National Library, the latter also makes it easy to work in the spacious rooms with open Internet during opening hours.
There are 3 mobile operators in Tallinn: EMT, Tele2 and Elisa.
Roaming and its rates depend on the relevant agreements, so it is worth
asking in advance and estimating the cost of calls with your "home"
operator. As an economic option, you can purchase prepaid mobile
communication cards, for example, Simpel, Smart or Diil at R-Kiosk
kiosks, operator representative offices, etc.
From the point of
view of the Internet connection, Tallinn can be said to be an
"internetized" city. Whether it is a cafe, a restaurant, a hotel or even
a gas station, the visitor will not be left without WiFi. Moreover, the
number of places with free access to the network is constantly growing.
Today, according to the Wifi.ee website, there are about 350 access
points in Tallinn, of which 180 are in the central part. Despite the
abundance of wireless communications, you can find Internet cafes in the
Old Town.
On the advice of local residents, it is better and more
profitable to use "Tele2" or "Elisa", by purchasing the latter you get a
local connection and an Internet traffic package, which is convenient
for using Google maps to search for attractions and plotting a route to
them by any means of transport, as well as on foot .
Tallinn Tourist Information Center, Niguliste 2. Tel: +372 645 7777,
email: visit@tallinn.ee.
Telephone calls in the fixed network (i.e.
from the hotel or from public telephones) to Europe are only recommended
after clarification of the costs!
In addition, free WiFi access
is available everywhere in Tallinn (and Estonia), whether on the Town
Hall Square, in a hotel or in a café. Even in the summer on the beach,
the "reachability" via the Internet was absolutely problem-free. In the
main post office there are chargeable but cheap internet computers.
Internet telephony via Skype is also very common here. Now part of
the Microsoft group, the technology was originally developed in Estonia.
Tallinn is no more dangerous than most European cities. Standard
precautions are recommended in the handling of money, documents and
valuables, as well as intrusive strangers. The old city and the central
part are quite actively patrolled.
Pickpockets can "work" in
crowded places (Old Town and the center), keep an eye on your bags, do
not leave things in sight and car radios, it is not recommended to walk
alone in the dark in non-central areas.
Try to avoid sensitive
political and nationally charged topics in conversation, especially with
tipsy young people. The events of the "bronze night" still make
themselves felt with echoes of extremism, and the dispute that has begun
can easily develop into an open confrontation, which, as a result, will
lead to a stay in the police station and a large fine.
In
Tallinn, a ban on the sale of alcohol in retail from 22 pm to 10 am has
been introduced. Drinking alcoholic beverages in public places and on
the street is prohibited, even if you hide the bottle, for example, in a
bag. A serious fine is imposed for violation.
Be careful when
getting into a taxi near nightclubs or taverns, the bill for such a trip
can exceed your wildest expectations.
General emergency number
112 and police 110
Due to the small size of Estonia and good public transport, you can
travel from Tallinn to any Estonian city for one day using buses,
trains, and on the islands also planes. The direction of the trip
depends on what exactly interests you. If you want to see the Estonian
hinterland, head to Viljandi. Outback in combination with a resort is in
Kuressaare and Haapsalu, a resort without a feeling of outback is in
Pärnu. Tartu is a university city, the second largest in Estonia and
almost its cultural capital. Finally, for the gloomy aesthetics of
medieval castles, head to Narva and then cross the border to Russian
Ivangorod, or drive through Sillamäe and Kohtla-Järve, industrial cities
of the Soviet era. However, you can safely go to any of these cities
with an overnight stay, since there are also a lot of interesting things
in the vicinity.
No less curious are the countryside and natural
attractions in the vicinity of Tallinn. There are two main directions -
western and eastern. To the east of Tallinn is the Lahemaa National Park
with a protected swamp, luxurious manors and a beautiful coastline. On
the way there are the Jagala waterfall, the castle tower in Kiiu, the
medieval church in Kuusalu. To the west you will see another waterfall,
Keila-Joa, a cliff above the sea, a wooden lighthouse, a pretty town of
Keila, a medieval monastery in Padise. It is more convenient to see all
this with a car, although public transport can make an interesting day
trip in east or west directions.
Viimsi parish
Viimsi parish
is the most densely populated parish in Estonia. There is a famous spa,
several old buildings, and especially for children, you can order a tour
of the "viking village".
Viimsi Spa & Hotell, Randvere tee 11,
Haabneeme, Viimsi vald, Harjumaa. ☎ +372 606 1000.
Viimsi manor. ☎
+372 621 7410.
Maardu
This is an ordinary little remarkable
city. However, various fairs, concerts, visits of other peoples, etc.
are often held here. You can also fish here. It also has its own museum
(tickets by phone only) and an old manor.
Keila-Joa. Waterfalls
on the Keila River. Departure from Tallinn - from the Haabersti circle
(crossing of Paldiski mnt with Ehitayate tee) to the right.
Historically known by
its old Germanic name Reval or Revel, Tallinna replaced the former
name of Reval (Russian: Ревель) in 1918, when Estonia achieved
independence. At the beginning of the 1920s this denomination was
modified, becoming Tallinn, an exceptional case in the Estonian
language, where the name of the place end in a vowel. There is still
confusion in some foreign speakers about this term, confusion
sustained by the fact that in Estonian the genitive case of this
word ends with the suffix -a, so we have that the Tallinn Airport is
called, Tallinna Lennujaam.
The ending -linna, as in Germanic -burg and in Slav -grad or -gorod
originally meant "strength", although it was later used as a suffix
in the formation of city names. In fact, in Estonian linn means
city. The origin of the Tallinn name is debated, but it is known to
be of Estonian origin. According to the most accepted theory derives
from Taani-linn, which means "Danish city" term that is justified in
the first construction of a fortress on the hill of Toompea by the
Danes, other theories claim that it comes from Talu linn, which
means "city of peasants", or tali-linna that comes to mean "city
of winter ".
Tallinn has several historical names, Koluvan, Lindanisse, as well
as variations of the Germanic name Reval: Revalia, Revel and Reveln.
The name of Reval is used by the Germans and the Swedes to designate
Tallinn, and was one of the official denominations of the city until
the beginning of the 20th century. This name originates in the
thirteenth century and comes from the name of the old Rävala county
that occupied the north of what is now Estonia. There are other
ancient names to designate Tallinn, especially significant are
Lindanisse and its variants, Lyndanisse in Danish, Lindanäs in
Swedish and Ledenets in old Church Slavic. Kesoniemi and Rääveli in
Finnish and Kolyvan (Колывань) in Old East Slavic are also old names
of Tallinn.
In 1219, the Danish king Valdemar II conquered the old Estonian
castle (Battle of Lyndanisse) on Toompea, rebuilt it and began building
a cathedral church for the Bishop of Estonia, suffragan of the
Archbishop of Lund. However, Denmark could not long hold the castle
against the rebellious Estonians and the advancing Germans. In 1227 the
Order of the Brothers of the Sword conquered Reval with papal approval
and received the castle and a large part of today's Estonia for
administration from the hands of the papal governor in Estonia.
Probably in order to strengthen its position against the rural vassals,
the Order of the Brothers of the Sword had 200 Westphalian and Lower
Saxon merchants recruited from Gotland in 1230, who settled below the
castle, granted tax exemption and land. Although a founding document has
not survived, this is probably the actual founding of a town of Reval.
When the order refused to return its feudal dominions and castle to
the papal legate three years later, the Danish king reasserted his
claims to Reval and Estonia. After the devastating defeat at the Battle
of Schaulen in 1236, the Order of the Brothers of the Sword strove for
unification with the Teutonic Order, which the Pope only approved
against the surrender of Reval. In 1237 the Order of the Brothers of the
Sword became part of the Teutonic Order as the Livonian Order, and Reval
returned to Denmark in 1238. It was in this context that Reval was first
mentioned as civitas (citizenship, city).
Under renewed Danish
rule until 1346, the city rapidly grew in size and economic importance.
In 1248 it received Lübeck city rights from the Danish king, which
lasted until 1865. However, this did not apply to the Toompea. The first
councilors were appointed with the same document. The city gradually
received extensive privileges that made it largely independent of the
sovereign. The official language in Tallinn was German until 1889.
Although Reval was under (increasingly loose) Danish rule, the town
retained a German upper class and, as this was almost entirely
merchants, close contact with the Hanseatic League was maintained. The
fact that Reval considered himself to be part of the Hanseatic League
can be proven as early as 1252 and was explicitly mentioned in 1285 at
the latest. Of economic importance was the Danish decision in 1294 to
allow all German merchants the trade route to Novgorod via Reval and
Narva. This enabled Reval to become a hub of the Hanseatic Baltic Sea
trade.
After crushing a major Estonian uprising with the help of the
Teutonic Knights, the Danish king released his Estonian vassals from
their oath of allegiance in 1346 and sold his rights to northern Estonia
to the Teutonic Knights. Reval, which had had all existing and some new
privileges confirmed by the Danish king in the year before the sale, was
now assured of all privileges by the new sovereign and was thus able to
further expand its legal and autonomous position during the change.
Reval, part of the "Livonian third" of the Hanseatic League,
received the staple right in 1346, together with Riga and Pernau, which
obliged all merchants trading with Russia to call at one of the three
cities and sell their goods on the market for a period of three to eight
days to offer. Several exclusive trading rights for the Reval merchants
ended the free trade in the city that had been open to everyone until
then. The hitherto most important trading town on the Baltic Sea, Wisby,
did not return to its former supremacy after being sacked by the Danish
king in 1361 and in the years of war that followed; and when the Vitali
brothers were banned from the Baltic Sea at the turn of the century,
Reval became the most important city in the Hanseatic east trade.
However, trade with Russia did not always remain undisturbed. After
several years of uncertainty, trade with Novgorod broke off completely
in 1471 due to attacks by the Muscovites, and in 1478 the principality,
which had been independent until then, was finally conquered by the
Muscovites. The Grand Duchy of Moscow was at war with Livonia, with
which it now shared a border. The Moscow Russian invasion of Livonia in
1481 brought a severe outbreak of plague to the city overflowing with
refugees. Other severe epidemic years in the city were 1464, 1495/96 and
1519/20. After a short period of peace, in which the Novgorod trading
post was reopened and closed again, the Teutonic Order successfully
campaigned against Moscow in 1501–1503, which was followed by a peace
that lasted until 1558.
The wars with the Moscow Russians brought
heavy economic and population losses to Livonia and Reval. It was not
until 1514 that the Livonian cities of Reval and Dorpat were able to
reestablish trade relations with Novgorod, which led to a new economic
boom up until the 1550s. In the 16th century the city had about
6000-7000 inhabitants.
The Reformation reached Reval in 1523/24.
It experienced its final breakthrough when, in July 1524,
representatives of the Livonian towns and knights gathered in the Reval
town hall and decided to remain with the Protestant doctrine and to
defend it by all means. In September 1524 there was an iconoclasm, which
destroyed the furnishings of three churches. The losses remained
relatively low, since the council was able to restore public order the
very next day and ensured that the stolen art treasures were returned.
Overall, the Reformation in Livonia and Reval was bloodless. On
September 9, 1525, the new doctrine in Reval became "official" through
the enactment of a Lutheran church order by the council and the guilds.
The rest of the time of the Order's rule was marked by internal and
external disputes until Moscow defeated the Teutonic Order in Livonia in
1558-1561. Reval turned to Sweden for protection, beginning Swedish rule
in the city that lasted until the Great Northern War in 1710.
In
1561, during the Livonian War, the city became Swedish. The Swedes
gradually reduced the privileges of the Germans, but not to the extent
that the Estonians first hoped in terms of the status of peasants in
Sweden. The first grammar school was founded in 1631. In 1684 there was
a devastating fire on Toompea. After the plague epidemic in 1710, Reval
had only 2000 inhabitants.
As a result of the Great Northern War,
Reval fell to Russia in the course of the Siege of Reval in 1710. Peter
I restored the old German council families to their original privileges;
then, over the next two centuries, the powers of city government were
gradually reduced.
On February 24, 1918, the independent Republic of Estonia was proclaimed; the city now called Tallinn eventually became the capital of independent Estonia. Actual independence was won in the War of Independence (1918-1920) and crowned by the peace treaty with Soviet Russia.
A secret additional protocol to the German-Soviet non-aggression pact
(in August 1939) opened the way for the conquest of Estonia by the
Soviet Union. The German-Baltic population was resettled from the
Tallinn port on Hitler's orders to the newly created Reichsgau
Wartheland. After the Soviet occupation in June 1940, the Estonian
Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed, with Tallinn remaining the
capital. The first deportations of the Estonian population - especially
the political and cultural elite - to Siberia and northern Russia began.
In the Soviet terror waves after 1940 and then again from 1944/45, every
fifteenth Estonian was murdered and every seventeenth was deported to
Siberia for at least ten years.
In 1941, the German Wehrmacht
occupied Tallinn, causing the city and the country to fall from one
arbitrary rule to the next. Hitler's goal was to annex Estonia to the
German Reich. The restoration of independence hoped for by the Estonians
did not materialize. Nevertheless, many young Estonians took part in the
advance of the German Wehrmacht to the east and took part in
extermination actions. The German occupying power almost entirely
murdered the Jewish population of Tallinn and Estonia.
On March
9, 1944, there was a heavy Soviet air raid. Eleven percent of the old
town was destroyed and 600 dead were counted. During the war, the
character of the Old Town was preserved despite the bombing by the
Soviet Air Force against the German troops stationed in and around
Tallinn. The Wehrmacht was pushed back from Tallinn and Estonia by the
Soviet Army in the course of the Baltic Operation by the end of 1944 and
Soviet rule was restored. In the city there was prisoner of war camp 286
for German prisoners of war of World War II.
After 51 years, on August 20, 1991, at the time of the Moscow coup,
Tallinn once again became the capital of an independent Estonia. As a
result of the immense economic growth and the sharp increase in
prosperity in some strata, huge new development areas have sprung up
around Tallinn within a few years. For example, in the Peetri area south
of Tallinn, single and multi-family houses were built on a former bog.
Young families in particular, who have benefited from the economic
development in recent years, are settling here. There is a stark
contrast to the large socialist-style settlements. Some of the prices
for apartments in the new development areas are already at Western
levels.
At the end of April 2007, riots and looting, mainly by
young people of Russian origin, caused the worst unrest in Tallinn since
the collapse of the Soviet Union. The reason for this was the relocation
of the bronze soldier from Tallinn from its original location in the
city center to a military cemetery by the Estonian authorities on April
27, 2007 after a lengthy prior announcement. Estonians associate this
monument with the Soviet occupation rather than the liberation from
German occupation in World War II, to which the monument is dedicated
(and which it symbolizes for Russians and the Russian minority in
Estonia). As a result of the monument dispute, there was a serious
crisis in relations between Estonia and Russia, which vehemently opposed
the implementation of the statue.
Until 1877, Toompea and Lower Town were two autonomous cities, both
in terms of administration and jurisdiction.
The cathedral hill,
on which the bishop, the representative of the sovereign, the
representative of the Teutonic Order and the representatives of the
knighthood sat, is still the center of state authority today. The
Parliament of the Republic of Estonia (Riigikogu) and the government
have their seat here. Toompea towers 48 m above the Lower Town.
Historically speaking, the lower town is the actual town of Reval. Here
lived the majority of the city's population, craftsmen and merchants.
The city was independent of the sovereign. Only small annual payments of
interest and rent had to be made to the order; and she had to pay homage
to the ruler in the event of his ceremonial entry into the city. The
city turned to Lübeck for legal questions.
The bishop was only a spiritual shepherd and not a sovereign. His possessions consisted of table goods in the diocese. With the loss of his episcopal rights to the city of Reval through the Lübeck city law, he was robbed of his position of spiritual power. The Bishop of Reval was a suffragan of the Archbishop of Lund during the period of the Order, but the Archbishop of Lund had no influence on the bishop's election at that time. The cathedral chapter was extremely small with four canons, and the only income it had at its disposal were pious foundations and a few villages in the Reval area. On the Toompea there was next to the cathedral, the representation of the Teutonic Order and the seat of the v. a. harris-wier knighthood only a small population of craftsmen and servants.
The lower town accommodated quite a large number of people for its
relatively small area (the town measured about 1 kilometer along its
longest north-south axis and was less than 700 meters wide). There are
no population figures for the entire city from the time of the Order,
but there is a list of 1538 for the lower town, which includes around
800 people, which, compared to later lists of inhabitants and according
to conservative estimates, suggests a population of around 5000
inhabitants. The "Wacken Book" from 1575 is available for the cathedral
city, with the help of which around 1000 people (together with the
cathedral, the religious castle and the vassals present) can be assumed.
The suburbs are estimated to have had about 700 inhabitants in the first
half of the 16th century, giving the entire city of Reval a population
of about 6,700 at that time.
Earlier estimates are likely to be
even less accurate. A lap list from 1372 lists around 650 lap subjects.
If you allow yourself the simplification and calculate the later
population estimate for this year proportionately, then this would
result, together with the cathedral city, in a population of perhaps
almost 5,000 inhabitants (the suburbs did not yet exist at that time).
This made Reval one of the medium-sized European cities, far away from
large cities with around 40,000 inhabitants such as Cologne, Vienna and
Prague or with 20,000 inhabitants such as Lübeck, Nuremberg, Bremen or
Gdansk. In terms of its population, Reval was more comparable to cities
such as Göttingen, Hildesheim or Stockholm, although the numbers could
fluctuate greatly due to the economy, wars and epidemics.
Most of
Reval's citizens were German and, unless they were born in Reval, came
from the Reich. Throughout the Middle Ages, Lübeck was the transit
station and occasionally the hometown for new residents of Reval. The
merchants involved in long-distance trade formed a dense social network
spread across the Hanseatic cities, often through relatives, so that it
is not surprising if a family was spread across Reval, Lübeck and other
Hanseatic cities at the same time. An examination of the place names
appearing in Revaler citizen names of the 14th century showed that about
half of all place names can be found in the Rhenish-Westphalian area,
the other half consists mainly of the entire north German area.
The social life of the city was determined to a large extent by the
relatives or the neighborhood by the professional groups, the guilds and
the three guilds, the children's or large guild, the canoe guild and the
Olai guild, with the sociability within these cooperatives half
professional, half private sphere was created. The guilds were founded
as ecclesiastical corporations, but soon united the respected
professions and guilds and had important social functions. They
celebrated their members' funerals and weddings together, held convivial
meals and dances, set rules for good behavior (infringing them were
fines that went into the guild treasury), and helped each other in times
of misfortune. The guilds maintained their own altars and so-called
table guilds to feed the poor. The existing guild houses for the guilds
have been preserved in the old town of Reval, such as the Great Guild
House.
A strict social distinguishing feature was nationality
(ancestry or country of origin). The city was essentially made up of
three nationalities, Germans, Swedes and Estonians (the so-called
non-Germans); the list of laps from 1538 gives the following picture:
About a fifth of the population requiring a lap appears to have been
Swedish, two-fifths each German and Estonian. In terms of their social
hierarchy, the entire upper class and more than half of the middle class
may have consisted of Germans. The rest of the middle class is made up
of about a quarter Swedish and a fifth Estonian. The lower class
consisted of three-quarters Estonians and, apart from a few Germans,
Swedes. In this case, the social strata depended on the lap payment and
the housing situation.
The national composition on the Domberg
can only be judged very cautiously, as the main source, the Wacken Book
of 1575, dates from the time of Swedish rule. The change of sovereign
will have been accompanied by a change in the composition of the
population of the cathedral city, the seat of the sovereign, especially
since with the many Swedish names listed in the Wacken Book it cannot be
ruled out that the Swedish scribes simply wrote down German names in
Swedish form. For the time of the order it can nevertheless be assumed
that the upper class consisted almost entirely of Germans and the lower
class consisted mostly of Estonians.
The two parishes in the lower town correspond to two different urban
nuclei. On the one hand, the southern part of the city is characterized
by the old market and the streets that radiate out from it in a star
shape. An Estonian trading post probably already existed here at the
height of the connecting route to Toompea, the infrastructure of which
was taken over by the 200 German merchants called. The parish church
responsible for this district, St. Nikolai, was first mentioned in
documents in 1316, but probably dates back to the second half of the
13th century and is definitely a foundation of German merchants. As in
many other Hanseatic cities, it is dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the
patron saint of seafarers.
On the other hand, the elongated
northern part of the city is determined by Langstrasse, the main
connecting road between the port and Domberg, where mainly Swedish and
Russian merchants settled. The parish church there, far to the north of
the city, is the St. Olai Church, first mentioned in 1267, when the
Danish Queen Margrete I gave her parish right over the church to the
Cistercian monastery of St. Michael in Reval. How far back the origins
of this church go is unknown, but it can be assumed that it was either
founded by the Danish king or by Swedish merchants who probably had a
trading post here before the city was founded. It is named after the
canonized Norwegian King Olav. After the great city fire in 1433, which
devastated the monastery of St. Olai, the mint and part of the market
square, the church became the property of the city. The Russian church,
which stood not far from St. Olai, shows that the northern part of the
city was originally a community settled by foreigners. Both parts of the
city were joined together in 1265 by order of the Danish Queen Margrete
I and surrounded by a city wall.
Within the city walls are two monasteries: one of the Dominicans and
one of the Cistercians. The Dominican monastery of St. Catherine was
probably first established in 1229 on Toompea, but was refounded in the
city in 1246 and maintained close ties to the Scandinavian Dominicans.
During its existence, it enjoyed great popularity among the citizens,
which was reflected in strong material growth through donations and
endowments. The Dominicans repeatedly came into conflict with the bishop
and at the time of the Reformation in serious disputes with the city,
which ended in 1523 with the expulsion of the monks from the city.
The Cistercian monastery was probably founded in 1249 by the Danish
king. The church was dedicated to St. Michael and, together with the
monastery complex, only became part of the inner city structure when the
city wall was extended. The monastery was very richly endowed with
privileges from the Danish royal family, acquired large properties early
on and took in mostly unmarried daughters of the nobility, which
explains its relatively poor relations with the townspeople. After the
Reformation it was converted into a female educational institution.
In addition to the resident monasteries, some foreign monasteries
had courtyards in Reval. The court of the Cistercian monks of Dünamünde
(later von Padis) is only mentioned in 1280, but it probably existed
since the first Danish rule. Right next to it was the farm of the
Gotland Cistercians from Roma, and across from it was the farm of the
Cistercians from Falkenau near Dorpat on a piece of land that was given
to them in 1259.
The Heilig-Geist-Kapelle (Holy Spirit Chapel)
belonging to St. Olai was mentioned for the first time in 1316, which
early on had the status of an almost independent church and was mainly
visited by the non-Germans in the city. The Heilig-Geist-Spital for the
old and the sick, built according to the Roman model, belonged to it.
The Johannisspital, which was first mentioned in 1237, was much older.
It was built as a leprosarium and continued as an infirmary after the
leprosy had disappeared.
Outside the city wall, in front of the
Schmiedepforte, there was the Barbara chapel with a churchyard, which
belonged to St. Nikolai and whose construction is estimated to have been
built in the first half of the 14th century. The chapel no longer exists
today, presumably it was already destroyed in 1570/71 during the Russian
siege. Also outside, near the port, in front of the large beach gate,
was the Gertrude chapel, built for sailors and travellers. Its
construction was permitted in 1438, but it was destroyed in a fire in
1570. On the Tönnisberg (Antoniusberg) stood the Antonius chapel, whose
original purpose can no longer be reconstructed.
The construction
of the Augustinian monastery of St. Brigitten zu Marienthal, begun in
1407, was completed by the time it was consecrated in 1436 at the
latest. The Augustinian rule was given to the monastery as early as 1411
and the daughter monastery Marienwohlde near Lübeck was founded in 1412.
The founders were three merchants from Reval who later joined the
convent. The monastery was near the coast, four kilometers north-east of
the town on the border to the Stadtmark, and was mentioned for the first
time in a Reval will in 1435. It served to accommodate people of both
sexes, but the women predominated, mostly bourgeois daughters, who
usually provided the abbess. The monastery was destroyed during two
Russian sieges, in 1575 and 1577.