Tallinn’s Lower Town is the best-preserved medieval walled city in northern Europe. Ironically, this is partly because it was long considered a provincial outpost by the many foreign powers that have ruled it, a place not even, in the end, worth maintaining as a fortress town. If Toompea is the seat of power, this is the soul of the city. The Lower Town, a delectable jumble of cobbled streets and sharply angled terracotta rooftops, has an austere northern look, thanks to the locally quarried limestone with which so many of the buildings were constructed. Neglected under Soviet rule, the narrow, triangular-topped gothic merchants’ houses and the unusually sober baroque buildings have largely been renovated and freshened up today. The main arteries are Lai (Wide) street, the “street of theatres”, Pikk (Long) street, the “street of guilds”, and Vene (Russian) street, named after the Russian merchants who settled in this eastern neighbourhood centuries ago. The Lower Town is Tallinn for many visitors, for its array of bars, cafés, restaurants and shops as well as for its looks, but it’s still unspoilt and dreamily romantic. You will pay more for a beer on Raekoja plats than anywhere else, but the view of the square, whether in winter snow or under a blue summer sky, is unforgettable. SightsRaekoja plats Tallinn’s town hall square has an enchanting elegance that’s maddeningly hard to pin down. Apart from the town hall, which looks pretty much as it did in the 15th century, most of the pastel-tinted buildings went up in the 19th and 20th centuries and, taken individually, are far from masterpieces. Together though, they make for one of Europe’s most appealing squares, especially on a summer evening, when the shade of the sky seems tailor- made for the gentle pinks, whites and blues of the façades. Previously a market place and trading centre, the square has witnessed festivals and fairs as well as floggings and executions. Flooded with cafés in summer, it is the beating heart of the Lower Town, bustling with traders, artisans and merry-makers, and is the backdrop for the medieval Old Town Days festival, the Christmas market and the hailing of national heroes, be they Olympic champions or Eurovision winners. Raekoda (Town Hall) Raekoja plats 1, T 645 7900. Exhibition Hall, Tue-Sun 1200-1800. 30 EEK, children, students and pensioners 20 EEK, family ticket 50 EEK. Tower 25 EEK (15 EEK concessions); cellar exhibitions 10 EEK. Free with Tallinn Card. Recently scrubbed clean to reveal the original yellow colour of the limestone, much to the surprise of the locals, who’d grown up with it being grey, the Town Hall has been a centre for administration and entertainment since at least 1322, although its present incarnation, with an elegant arcade, dates back to 1404 and the spire is baroque. Highlights inside include the coloured columns of the Citizens’ Hall, the elaborate carvings on the magistrates’ bench and the views from the tower (open 1100-1800), well worth the slightly perilous ascent. During the Christmas period there is a market in the cellar selling handicrafts, produce and cakes. Raeapteek Raekoja plats 11, T 631 4860, raeapt@hot.ee. Mon-Fri 0900-1900, Sat 0900-1700, Sun 0900-1600. A pharmacy has stood here since at least 1422 and still functions today, making it one of the world’s oldest. Centuries ago, drugs were made using anything from ground horn to swallows’ nests and burnt hedgehogs; today, perhaps disappointingly, the products on sale are the same as you’d find in your average branch of Boots. Such was the fame of the Burchart family, who ran it for generations, that Peter the Great supposedly called for Johann Burchart VI to attend to him on his deathbed, but he did not get there on time. The names of the streets around Raekoja plats, such as Voorimehe (Coachmen) and Vana Turu Kael (Old Market Neck) and Kullassepa (Goldsmith), convey something of the bustle of bygone days. Most of the streets had several names, one each for the Estonian, German and Russian-speaking communities, but these were standardized in the 19th century. Town Prison Museum of Photography Raekoja tänav 4-6, T 644 8767. Wed-Mon1030-1800. 10 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. Once the city prison, this intimate 14th-century building with cool white walls and a grey stone floor offers a compelling glimpse of what Tallinn and rural Estonia looked like in the early days of photography. The collection includes sepia photos of wheat, spinning wheels and round-faced country folk, stark Independence War images of corpses in the snow, pictures of Harju street and the fabled Golden Lion Hotel before the 1944 bombing and shots of a zeppelin gliding above the city. One of the most striking images is that of the French balloonist Charles Leroux, tangled in the strings of his hot-air balloon, moustache impeccable even in death, after his botched attempt to fly over the Bay of Tallinn in 1889. The patent for the Minox miniature spy camera, invented in Estonia and produced in Riga in 1938, is also on display. Niguliste Muuseum-Kontserdisaal (Niguliste Museum and Concert Hall) Niguliste 3, T 644 9911 (T 644 9903 to arrange a tour or for concert tickets), http://www.ekm.ee. Wed-Fri 1000-1800, Sat and Sun 1130-1800. 35 EEK. Just southwest of Raekoja down Harju street, you will come to a solid-looking church set back from the main street, with modern stained glass providing an orange-pink glow to its light, white interior. It was built by seafaring merchants from Westphalia who settled in the area in 1230. Niguliste also has an impressive permanent collection of church art, the star attraction being the fragment of the Lübeck master Berndt Notke’s meisterwerk, the Danse Macabre, which depicts Death as a leering skeleton, dancing in grotesque fashion with a pope, an emperor and empress, a cardinal and a king. Among the other works, look out for the highly expressive sculpture of Saint George triumphantly stamping on the head of the dragon (you can’t help feeling sorry for the beast, such is the killer’s expression); the wooden sculpture of Saint Christopher, with luscious curly hair, and Lübeck artist Hermann Rode’s late 15th-century altarpiece devoted to the life of St Nicholas in which the lurching ship highlights the saint’s role as patron of seamen and merchants. Niguliste is also one of the city’s flagship concert venues, thanks in part to its superb organ. Outside, a stone monument to the Estonian writer Eduard Vilde (1865-1933) depicts scenes from his novels and plays. Rüütli street One of the city’s prettiest streets. A plaque at number 22 marks the birthplace of artist Michel Sittow, born in 1469. Sittow studied painting with Hans Memling in Flanders and was a sought-after portraitist in several European courts, including those in Denmark, France and Spain. Sadly, the building is in urgent need of repair. At the corner of Dunkri and Rataskaevu stands Cat’s Well, once the main source of water for the city, a disturbing thought since some locals believed the only way to prevent an evil spirit that lurked within from drying up all Tallinn’s wells was to hurl stray cats into the water. Rootsi-Mihkli Kirik (St Michael’s Swedish church) Rüütli 7/9, T/F 644 1938, http://www.svenskakyrkanitallinn.com Daily 1000-1800, services in Swedish Sun 1200. This appropriately sparse Lutheran church was built as a hospital and almshouse in the 16th century and served a Swedish congregation from 1733 until the 2nd World War, when most Swedes fled to their homeland. Used as a sports hall during the Soviet occupation, it was returned to the re-established Swedish congregation in 1992. Harju street Back on Harju, a plaque marks the ruins and gaping bomb site created by a Soviet air raid in March 1944. The raid, which for years the Russians attributed to the Nazis, killed over 600 people, gutted Niguliste and destroyed 20,000 homes and numerous other buildings. Although this is prime real estate, the consensus is that the ruins should be preserved. Sõprus Cinema Vana-Posti 8, T 644 19 19, http://www.kino.ee. This wonderfully pompous Stalinist building, which now houses the Hollywood nightclub, a fashionable lounge bar and the Old Town’s main cinema, was completed in 1955. For shows, see Arts and entertainment. Teatri-ja Muusikamuuseum (Theatre and Music Museum) Müürivahe 12, T 644 6963/644 2884. Wed-Sun 1000-1800. 15 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. Hardly anyone seems to come here but, frankly, they’re missing out. With an emphasis on music rather than theatre, the upstairs display has a superb collection of organs and automated 19th- and 20th-century music-making machines, one in the shape of a boy with a piglet. If you’re lucky, the pensioner on duty will play them, filling the room with harmonies reminiscent of fairgrounds. Pianists are invited to try the piano in the main hall, a product of Tallinn’s world-beating Estonia factory, which is used for concerts. Ask for the English-language information sheet. Vanaturu kael (Old Market) This lively triangular crossroads, just off Raekoja Plats, is the town’s oldest market square. The warehouse where merchants once stashed their wares is now one of the city’s flagship restaurants, Olde Hansa; stallholders in medieval dress, aided by Middle Ages music from the restaurant, do their best to recreate the heady atmosphere of the Hansa days. Dominikaanlaste Klooster (Dominican Monastery) Vene 16, T/F 644 4606. Daily 1000-1800. 25 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. Dating back to 1246, St Catherine’s Monastery is the city’s oldest intact building. On its completion in the 15th century, it was also the largest church in town. The gloomy but atmospheric monastery remains are well worth a visit, not least for the stone carvings displayed in the cloister. Next to the monastery is the city’s most romantic alley, the narrow H Katariina käik (St Catherine’s passageway), with overhead vaulting, wrought-iron lamps and workshops where you can watch artisans making jewellery, pottery and stained glass. Several gravestones from St Catherine’s line its walls: the first, dated 1381, is the most unusual, as it commemorates a woman, Kuningunde Schottelmundt, and was carved at a time when women were not considered important enough to merit individual tombs. It is thought that she was the much-loved young wife of an important city figure; look carefully and you will see the fur trimming of her cape and pointy shoes. Peeter-Paul Kirik (St Peter and St Paul’s Church) Vene 18, T 644 6367 Open with advance notification and during services. This pristine yellow-and-cream Catholic church was built on the site of St Catherine’s refectory by the St Petersburg-based architect Carlo Rossi in 1845. Today it serves Estonia’s minority Catholic, as well as the Polish and Lithuanian communities. Tallinna Linnamuuseum (Tallinn City Museum) Vene 17, T 644 6553, http://www.linnamuuseum.ee Mar-Oct Wed-Mon 1030-1730, Nov-Feb Wed-Mon 1100-1730. 25 EEK, concessions 10 EEK, family 35 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. Housed in a handsome yellow merchant’s house, the City Museum is an excellent introduction to the history of Tallinn, from the earliest settlements to the Singing Revolution. In the Hanseatic section, a soundtrack of trotting horses, tolling bells, lapping water and mooing cows takes you back to the days when furs, flax, wax, honey and hemp passed westwards through the port, while salt, cloth, herring, spices, wine and metals went east. Tallinn’s top exports were limestone and grain. On the top floor, you can watch films of pre-war Tallinn and footage of the events that led up to the Singing Revolution, although the latter involves an eternity of long speeches. Behind a panel of Soviet propaganda material you’ll find a second panel giving a more realistic depiction of what Soviet rule entailed, with pictures of the pre-war president and prime minister before and after their imprisonment. During the 2nd World War alone, Estonia lost more than 200,000 of its people through death, repression and flight to the west. One of the prize exhibits is an uplifting photograph of an elderly, bespectacled man sitting on the pedestal of Lenin’s statue on present-day Rävala Street. It’s 23 August 1991 and the statue has just been removed; arms outstretched and head thrown back, he’s little short of ecstatic. Nikolai Imetegija Kirik (Church of St Nicholas the Miracle Worker) Vene 24, T 644 1945. Services in Russian Fri 1000, Sat 0930 and 1800, Sun 0930. Many Russian Orthodox believers will tell you that this beautifully proportioned, neatly domed neoclassical structure (built in the 1820s) has a much more spiritual feel than the portentous and overblown Nevsky Cathedral. Back in medieval times, a Russian church was built on nearby Sulevimägi for the Novgorod merchants who settled in this neighbourhood. Viru From Vene, take Munga, then turn right onto Müürivahe, with the rough-hewn ramparts past “Knitting Wall”, so-named because it is lined with stalls selling all manner of warm-looking woollies, to the twin towers of the 15th-century Viru Gate. After the construction of this section of the city wall, together with the gate, in the 16th century, merchants began moving to Viru street, which had previously been outside the city walls. Viru was the city’s most fashionable, glamorous street in the 1920s and 1930s; today, it’s Tallinn’s answer to Oxford Street. Commercial, touristy and depressingly unmedieval, it’s a favourite haunt of pickpockets and its main architectural attraction is the controversial steel, glass, wood and stone De La Gardie shopping centre. Pikk tänav On the other side of Town Hall Square is Pikk tänav (Long street), known as the “street of guilds”. In the Middle Ages, it was one of the city’s most important thoroughfares, as it led from the trading centre all the way to the sea. It was natural that the guilds, precursors of today’s trade unions, should settle here. At Pikk 20, you’ll find the neogothic St Canute’s Guildhouse, now home to contemporary dance. The building dates back to the mid-19th century, but the guild was first mentioned in 1326 as an association for German goldsmiths, tailors, bakers and shoemakers. The Soviet takeover of Estonia in 1940 was plotted at the pink Russian Embassy building, across the way (Pikk 19). Pause to admire the Jugendstil façade with ornate Egyptian motifs at Pikk 18. Further along, a brightly painted green, red and gold door belongs to the house of the Brotherhood of the Blackheads (Pikk 26). Tallinn’s only Renaissance façade, it was carved by master mason Arendt Passer in 1587. The Blackheads, whose patron saint was the African Saint Mauritius (his profile is visible above the entrance) were an association of Baltic German bachelor merchants, goldsmiths and intellectuals, founded in 1399 and disbanded only after the Soviet takeover in 1940. Members were keen patrons of the arts and organized some of Tallinn’s wildest parties. The neighbouring house (Pikk 24) used to belong to the Guild of Saint Olaf’s, founded in the 13th century for non- German craftsmen, including Estonians, who plied less prestigious trades: carpenters, boatmen, bell-ringers and gravediggers. The Interior Ministry building (Pikk 59) served as the headquarters of the NKVD (later the KGB) during the Soviet occupation; the basement rooms were used for torture and executions, hence the bricked-up windows. “Here,” reads the simple plaque outside, “began the road to suffering for thousands of Estonians.” The building is on the corner of Pagari (Bakers) street, home to bakeries in medieval times. The Three Sisters, a 15th-century trio of lemon-and-cream merchants’ houses towards the end of Pikk (beginning at number 71) is now a boutique hotel. Eesti Ajaloomuuseum (Estonian History Museum) Pikk 17, Great Guild Hall, T 641 1630. Thu-Tue 1100-1800. 10 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. It’s worth the price of admission just to see the high-vaulted interior of what was once the home of the city’s wealthiest merchants. A new permanent display is planned, following recent repairs and decoration. Hopefully it will still contain the curios collected by one of the town chemist’s more recent owners: the eclectic exhibits include a mummy’s hand and a letter signed by Martin Luther King. The coin room, meanwhile, has examples of hard currency from as far back as the Viking Age right through to those of the pre-war republic of Estonia. Pühavaimu (Church of the Holy Ghost) Pühavaimu 2, T/F 644 1487, http://www.eelk.ee. Sunday services in Estonian (1000), Finnish (1300) and English (1500).10 EEK entry outside these hours, free with Tallinn Card. There’s a refreshing lack of pomp about this prodigiously pretty whitewashed church, erected for a poor congregation and completed in 1360. It acquired an alluring copper spire following a fire in 2002. Formerly an almshouse church, it served the Estonian congregation and was the first church where sermons were given in Estonian; one of its preachers, Johan Koell, composed the first book in Estonian, a translation of the Lutheran catechism (1535). The only hint of flamboyance on Pühavaimu’s façade is the city’s oldest public clock, carved by Christian Ackermann in the 17th century. The interior has a hushed, intimate feel and one of the city’s most prized medieval works of art, the 15th-century altar by Berndt Notke (1483). The Renaissance pulpit is Tallinn’s most ancient. Oleviste Kirik (Saint Olaf’s church) Pikk 48, T 641 2241. Estonian-language services Sun 1000 and 1700, Mon 1730, Thu 1830, Fri 1800, spire open spring-autumn. First cited in 1267, Oleviste was once renowned as the tallest building in the world. Its soaring spire was an important orientation point for seamen; more recently, the KGB used it to send radio transmissions. As a result of reconstruction in 1820, the original 159-m spire has dwindled to 124 m, but it is still one of the most impressive spires on Tallinn’s skyline, and the views of the Old Town, Toompea and the city wall from the viewing platform at its base are breathtaking. A recent repainting has left it dazzlingly white, a kind of architectural Gandalf. The church, which today belongs to a Baptist congregation, was built for Scandinavian merchants and named after the Norwegian king, Olaf Haraldson. Its construction has spawned a host of unlikely tales: in the most popular, a mysterious mason offered to build the church for free if the city’s authorities could discover his name. They couldn’t, of course, until the 11th hour, when, in the face of financial ruin, a local worthy overheard the architect’s wife comforting their young child with a song about how the father (Olev, naturally) would soon be home with wealth beyond their wildest dreams. When the worthy called up to Olev, the master builder was so shocked that he fell to his death; a serpent and toad, sure signs of Satan’s influence, crawled out of his mouth. A delicately carved cenotaph outside the church depicts a skeleton with a toad on its chest and a serpent around its skull. Suur Rannavärav and Paks Margareta (The Great Coast Gate and Fat Margaret’s Tower) End of Pikk. In medieval times the harbour lay just beyond the city wall. (Since then, the land has risen by about 2 mm a year, hence the new shoreline). Built in the 14th century, the sea gate was restructured and refortified in the early 16th century, its most impressive addition being a stocky cannon tower with walls so stout that it later acquired the nickname of Paks Margareta (Fat Margaret). In Tsarist times, it was a jail for political prisoners, which is why a mob set it alight during the Russian Revolution. Estonian Maritime Museum Paks Margareta, Pikk 70, T 641 1408. Wed-Sun, 1000-1800, closed Mon-Tue. 25 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. Fat Margaret is now a museum devoted to Estonia’s long and deep association with the sea. On display are models of ships, ancient fishing equipment and artefacts salvaged from wrecks; none of them, however, can hold a candle to the building itself, a vast conical structure that must have inspired unshakeable confidence in those assigned to defend it. As you climb from floor to floor, look through the arrow slits and windows, or try to, as the walls are 6 m thick. Climb the external stairs for an unusual view of the Old Town and the sea from the wind-lashed rooftop terrace. Outside, a plaque unveiled by British Prince Andrew in 1998 commemorates British naval support for Estonian forces in the Independence War. Beyond the sea gate, on the right, is another memorial, this time to the 850 people who died when the Estonia ferry went down on its way to Stockholm on 28 September 1994. The two arcs can be taken to represent the broken line between Tallinn and Stockholm, or life cut short. Tarbekunstmuuseum (Applied Arts Museum) Lai 17, T 641 1927. Wed-Sun 1100-1800. 20 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. Housed in a former granary, storehouse and powder magazine, this intelligently designed museum is one of the city’s best. Three floors are devoted to ceramics, glassware, leather, metalwork, textiles and jewellery, all of which are strong traditions in Estonia. You may be tempted to walk away with half the stuff on show; instead, study the displays and note the names to look out for in the city’s more upmarket shops. Tervishoiumuuseum (Health Museum) Lai 30, T 641 1730/641 1732, http://www.tervishoiumuuseum.ee. Tue-Sat 1100-1800. 20 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. Tallinn is not short of didactic museums and this is no exception. There’s a disturbingly large model of a tongue, while the interactive displays might keep children entertained. If you’ve come here for a weekend of hedonism, however, images of cirrhosis and graphic pictures of sexual diseases are probably the last thing you want to see. Issanda Muutmise Peakirik (Church of the Transfiguration of our Lord) Suur-Kloostri 14, T 646 4003. Sun and on request. Originally the church of the Cistercian nunnery, then the Swedish garrison, this became the Russian garrison church in the 1720s. Inside, you can still see an iconostasis donated by Peter the Great. Uus (New street) If Lai is the “street of theatres”, Uus is the street of the unexpected. New street (the name comes from its location just outside the city wall) is beautiful and bizarre in equal measure. The arrestingly pretty Lithuanian embassy (Uus 15) is a uniquely flamboyant example of Tallinn baroque. Across the way, a plaque at Uus 10 tells you that Dostoevsky stayed here in 1840. Further down, past antiquarian bookshops and antique stores, you will come to the slightly dilapidated Kinomaja (Cinema house, Uus 3), with its curious turquoise, pink and orange trimmings and equally curious floral weathervane. Step inside to climb Helemann Tower. Mine Museum Uus 37, T 641 1408. Apr-Sep Wed-Sun 1000-1800, Oct-Mar Wed-Sun 0900-1700. 15 EEK, free with Tallinn Card. At the north end of Uus, the air begins to bristle with the sound of marching music. Its source is the Mine Museum, a chilling reminder of what lies beneath the Baltic Sea. The deactivated mines on display here have been fished out of the Bay of Tallinn or brought in from the Estonian islands. One German device was neutralized by farmers on the island of Muhu, then used as a bowl. Ask the unnervingly enthusiastic staff whether there are any more mines in the bay and you will be gleefully told that a good 20 or so arrive here every year.
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