Tallin - Tartu Travel Guides | Tallin | Sub Regions | Tartu

Ask Estonians if there is serious rivalry between Tallinn and Tartu and they will say: “It’s a joke – sort of.” The university town, birthplace of Estonia’s National Awakening and of the first national song festival (1869), and rich in vaim (spirit), regards itself as intellectually superior to Tallinn, city of võim (power). Tartu people deride the capital as hectic and money-obsessed; Tallinners concede that the inhabitants of Estonia’s Oxbridge are educated, independent-minded guardians of that elusive thing, the ‘Estonian spirit’, but consider them just a tad slow and naïve. Ironically, almost everyone who’s anyone in the big smoke is a Tartu graduate. The local tourist office calls Tartu ‘a city of good thoughts’, a slogan that, in true Tartu style, was chosen after a public competition. At first glance, this rambling former Hanseatic town, with a river lazily meandering through it, is underwhelming, and you need a little imagination to appreciate the spirit of the ‘Athens of the North’. First mentioned in the 1030s, Tartu has lost its medieval looks thanks to fire, war and destruction, although many of its cool, pale façades date back to the 18th century, and the city is being spruced up as it prepares to host the international Hanseatic Days event in 2005. The best time to visit is during university term time, ideally during the Spring Days student festival, which winds up on 1 May with partying into the early hours.

Getting there: Tartu is a 2½ hour bus ride from Tallinn. Buses leave roughly every half-hour and tickets cost 50-80 EEK. Tartu Bus station, Turu 2, T (0)733 1277.

Sights

Raekoja plats (Town Hall Square)

Most of this cobbled, pedestrianized ensemble is neoclassical in appearance, the result of the devastating fire of 1775, after which the crooked medieval streets were straightened up. The town hall itself has a few baroque flourishes; its carillon rings out a variety of tunes to suit the seasons and time of day, often ending with a lullaby (1200, 1800 and 2100). The Kissing Students Fountain is a delightfully upbeat representation of sophomores snogging under a dripping umbrella.

Tartu Art Museum

Raekoja plats 18, T (0) 744 1080, http://www.tartmus.ee. Wed-Sun 1100-1800. 10 EEK, concessions 5 EEK, Fri free.

The spectacularly lopsided house, which belonged to the wife of Russian Field Marshal Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly (1761-1818), is a splendid setting for excellent temporary exhibitions, including retrospectives of Estonian art. Its wonky look is due to the lowering of the water level.

Slow Death

This staggeringly steep path behind Raekoja plats leads to Toomemägi (Dome Hill), once part of the city’s fortification system, but transformed into parkland two centuries ago. Both are dotted with monuments to leading cultural and academic figures. The statue of a young man clutching a staff is a tribute to Kristijan Jaak Peterson (1801-22), the first poet to write in Estonian, who died of tuberculosis; Estonia’s Language Day (14 March) marks his birthday. The seated, reflective figure is Karl Ernst von Baer (1792-1876), founder of embryology.

Cathedral ruins and around

These soaring red-brick and partially restored ruins, with spectacular cross-ribbed vaults, are all that remains of the St Peter and St Paul Cathedral, completed in the 15th century and destroyed in the Livonian War. Nearby is Tartu’s most impressive viewing platform, Cross Angel’s Bridge, where you can pause to enjoy views of green and leafy Tartu, as well as some houses in a sorry state of disrepair (some owned by Estonian émigrés who cannot be traced, a real dilemma for the city), and make for the Old Observatory, one of Europe’s most prestigious at the turn of the past century. In 1967, the observatory was moved to a more remote location to prevent the bright city lights obscuring the interplanetary vision.

Estonian National Museum

Kuperjanovi 9, T 07 421 311, http://www.erm.ee. Wed-Sun 1100-1800, 12 EEK (20 EEK for all exhibitions, temporary and permanent), concessions 8 EEK (14 EEK), Fri free.

Fascinating museum dedicated to the collector of folklore, Jakob Hurt. It presents Estonian history according to the various ethnic groups that have shaped the country’s history, among them the Swedes and Baltic-Germans.

The Citizen’s Museum

Jaani 16, T (0) 736 1545. Apr-Sep Wed-Sun 1000-1500, Oct-Mar Wed-Sun 1100-1500. 8 EEK, concessions 5 EEK, guided tour in English 80 EEK.

This is an evocative recreation of the home of a middle-class citizen in the 19th century; look out for the rather frightening wooden implement used to mash lumps out of porridge.

Jaani Kirik (St John’s Church)

Lutsu 16-3.

This is one of the finest examples of brick gothic architecture in northern Europe. The use of such brick was common in southern Estonia, where limestone is in shorter supply than it is up north. Delicately decorated with tiny and life-size terracotta figures, which make up the largest such collection in Northern Europe, the church dates back to the 14th century.

River Emajõgi

From Raekoja plats, head east across Vabaduse puiestee.

The much-loved bridge was bombed by the Soviets during the 2nd World War and replaced by one that does its best to be unloveable. Cross it fast and enjoy a riverside stroll along a willow-lined path. The statue of Kalevipoeg, removed by the Soviets but replaced on Midsummer’s Eve 2003, stands next to his creator, Kreutzwald.

From the port (Soola 5, T 07 34 0026, http://www.transcom.ee/ tartusadam), you can take one-hour cruises down the Emajõgi (May-Sep, departures 1100, 1300, 1500 and 1700; 50 EEK), or, if you have time, to Värska (120 EEK), on the shores of Lake Peipsi, the vast lake that divides Estonia from Russia.

Estonian Literary Museum

Vanaemuise 42, T (0) 737 7700. Mon-Thu 0900-1700, Fri to 1630.

Around 15 mins southwest of the Town Hall on foot, this museum houses the all-important Estonian folk poetry and folklore collection. If you want help in English, give ample warning of your visit. The pale blue “small” Vanemuine Theatre (Vanemuise), once known as the German theatre, has a beautiful Jugendstil façade.

Old KGB Cells

Riia 15b, T (0) 746 1717. Tue-Sat 1100-1600. 5 EEK, concessions 3 EEK, tour in English 80 EEK.

On the corner of Riia and Pepleri streets, the must-see former South Estonian headquarters of the NKVD/KGB now pays tribute to the anti-Soviet resistance movement that could not be quashed despite deportation and repression. 20,000 Estonians, 2.5% of the population, were deported in March 1949 alone and around 122,000 people were persecuted, over 30,000 of whom perished. You can visit the basement cells, several of which contain an exhibition on Soviet crimes. Objects from the Gulag hard labour camps (by 1946, 6% of the inhabitants were from the Baltic States) are also on display.

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