Attractions A-Z

This spectacular, onion-domed structure perched atop Toompea Hill is Estonia's main Russian Orthodox cathedral. It's also by far the grandest, most opulent Orthodox church in Tallinn.

Built in 1900, when Estonia was part of the tsarist Russian empire, the cathedral was originally intended as a symbol of the empire's dominance – both religious and political – over this increasingly unruly Baltic territory.

The cathedral was dedicated to the Prince of Novgorod, Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, who led the famous Battle of the Ice at Lake Peipsi in 1242, which halted the German crusaders' eastward advance. It was deliberately placed in this prominent location right in front of Toompea Castle, on the same spot where a statue of Martin Luther had previously stood.

Now with the controversy long since faded, what's left is simply an architectural masterpiece. Designed by respected St. Petersburg architect Mikhail Preobrazhenski, the church is richly decorated in a mixed historicist style. The interior, filled with mosaics and icons, is well worth a visit.

The church's towers hold Tallinn's most powerful church bell ensemble, consisting of 11 bells, including the largest in Tallinn, weighing 15 tonnes. You can hear the entire ensemble playing before each service.

On the slopes of Toompea hill between the city wall and Lower Town is an open, garden-like area that happens to be the legendary birthplace of the Danish flag.

This relaxing spot is called the Danish King's Garden because it was supposedly here that King Valdemar II of Denmark and his troops camped before conquering Toompea in 1219.  

More importantly, a well-known legend both in Estonia and Denmark holds that the Danish flag, the Dannebrog, originated right here. According to the story, Valdemar's forces were losing their battle with the Estonians when suddenly the skies opened and a red flag with a white cross floated down from the heavens. Taking this as a holy sign, the Danes were spurred on to victory.

Today the garden remains a place where locals honour the role Denmark played in Estonia's history. Halfway down the steps towards Rüütli street you can see an iron sword and shield with a Danish cross, and each summer, Danneborg Day is celebrated here.

The inner chambers of the Dominican Monastery (see above) once included three wings, together called the Claustrum, of which the east wing still remains. It consists of a monks’ dormitory, library, refectory, prior’s living quarters and other rooms, all of which provide an interesting view into the lives of medieval monks. Visitors shouldn’t miss the mysterious “Energy Pillar” in the cellar, thought to be a source of physical and spiritual health.

Free with Tallinn Card.

You won't be blamed for imagining you can hear monks chanting as you wander through the corridors of St. Catherine’s Monastery. Established in 1246, this is Tallinn’s oldest intact building.

Nowadays it operates as a museum, open during summer months and at other times by pre-arranged tour. Its beautiful courtyard, which is accessed through the courtyard of the adjacent Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church, is one of the most captivating spots in all of the Baltics. While here, you’ll see some surrounding stonelined halls where Dominican monks once walked. These ancient passages now display fascinating examples of medieval stonemasonry.

To see the inner rooms, visit the Dominican Monastery Claustrum on Müürivahe street.

The development of Tallinn’s fortifications and medieval arms and armour are the focus in this renovated tower from the 15th century. Interactive exhibits on each of six floors make this a great stop for the entire family.
Visitors are invited to try on a selection of chainmail and armour, as well as handle medieval replica weapons. A variety of medieval handicrafts are also presented for visitors to experience on a rotating basis.

Free with  Tallinn Card.

Standing guard at the north end of Pikk street are two of Tallinn's most impressive defensive structures, the Great Coastal Gate (Suur Rannavärav) and Fat Margaret's Tower (Paks Margareeta). They were built not only to defend the city from the seaward side of town, but also to impress any visitors arriving via the harbour.

The Great Coastal Gate, along with the Viru Gates, are the last of six gates that controlled access to the town in Medieval times. The gate system here on Pikk street originated in the 1300s, but it was during reconstruction in the early 16th century that the Fat Margaret cannon tower was added. Built from 1511 to 1530, this hefty, round tower has a diameter of 25 metres, a height of about 20 metres, and walls up to 5 metres thick.

The origins of Fat Margaret's name are a mystery. Some theories insist it was named for one of its larger cannons, while others hint at a cook called Margaret who once worked here.

In any case, the tower has served a number of different functions throughout its history. It has been used a storehouse for gunpowder and weapons, and as a prison.

Now it's home to the Estonian Maritime Museum, which provides a detailed look at the nation's seafaring past. Visitors should be sure to climb up to its rooftop viewing platform to get a lovely view of Old Town and the bay.

This squat, round house on the northern edge of Old Town served a vital function in times past: from the 14th to the 18th centuries it was the site of a horse-powered mill.

Nowadays it's home to a museum that displays a fascinating collection of artistic stonemasonry from the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods. A model showing how the mill worked during the middle-ages is also on exhibit.

Just off Town Hall Square stands a radiant, white church with an octagonal tower. This is the 14th-century Holy Spirit Church, a spectacular structure both inside and out.

The elaborate painted clock on its façade is Tallinn's oldest public timepiece, dating to the late 17th century. But don't miss the carved wood interior which includes such treasures as a unique 15th century altar by the famous Lübeck artist Bernt Notke, and one of the oldest pulpits in Estonia, dating to 1597.

The church was originally founded as part of the neighbouring Holy Spirit Almshouse, which tended to the town's sick and elderly. Throughout Medieval times it remained the primary church of the common folk. After the Reformation, it was here that the first sermons were ever given in the Estonian language (as opposed to German), and a catechism published in 1535 by the church's pastor Johann Koell is thought to be the first book in Estonian.

A trip to Tallinn isn’t a trip to Tallinn without a visit to this magnificent northern baroque palace, built by Peter the Great for his wife, Catherine I, in 1718.

Designed by Italian architect Niccolo Michetti, the grandiose palace and surrounding manicured gardens are a humbling example of Tsarist extravagance, but just as important a reason to visit is that this is also home to the foreign art collection of the Art Museum of Estonia.

The Kadriorg Art Museum displays hundreds of 16th- to 20th-century paintings by Western and Russian artists, as well as prints, sculptures and other works.

While here, don't miss the decadent, two-storey main hall, with its elaborately painted ceiling and stucco work, or the room used as an office by Estonia's head of state before the nearby Presidential Palace was built.

This vast park surrounding Kadriorg Palace is without a doubt the best place in town for relaxed strolling, pigeon feeding and life pondering. It was set up in 1718 as part of the palace estate, but has always been open to the public.

In spring and summer visitors can see beautiful, manicured gardens and flowerbeds here, but most of the park has retained the look of the natural landscape, with meadows and forest groves.

A good spot for starting a Kadriorg tour is the rectangular Swan Pond on Weizenbergi street, with its fountain, gazebo and birds. An uphill stroll from here leads past flower beds to another fountain area, closer to the Kumu art museum.

Nearby the Swan Pond are several of the palace's auxiliary buildings, some of which house cafés and museums. Opposite the palace gates is a small guard house, a kitchen building and an ice cellar. The kitchen building is home to the Mikkli Museum, which displays an impressive collection of imported art. 

Opens in the end of March 2010!

The name of this massive, 38m-high cannon tower literally means “Peek into the Kitchen.” It was so high that Medieval guards joked they could see right down the chimneys and into the kitchens of the houses below.

Kiek in de Kök was originally built in the 1470s, but quickly expanded and strengthened, giving it walls that were 4m thick. The investment paid off: During the Livonian war in the late 1500s, Ivan the Terrible's forces managed to blow a huge hole through the top storey, but the tower held. During post-war repairs, a row of four cannon balls was placed in the newly patched stone wall as a memorial. You can still see them on the tower's southeast side.

The tower now appropriately houses a museum that tracks the development of the town and its military history from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Lower floors are used for temporary photographic art exhibitions.

This square tower next to the Danish King's Garden dates to the 14th century. Naming it “Maiden's” or “Virgin's” tower is an example of Medieval irony: it used to house a prison for prostitutes.

In the 1990s it was home to a popular tourist café, but it has remained empty for the last several years. Locals insist it's haunted by a monk-like figure who has been seen drinking wine in one of the chambers.

Once upon a time, from 1549 to 1625 to be exact, this 13th-century church was the tallest building in the world. But its gigantic, 159-metre spire, which was probably meant to act as a signpost for approaching ships, also turned out to be a very effective lightning rod. Throughout the church's history its steeple has been hit repeatedly by lightning, completely burning down the structure three times.

Nowadays its smaller, 124-metre steeple still dwarfs most of Tallinn’s buildings and remains an important symbol of the town. From April to October, visitors can make the vigorous climb to the top of the stone portion of the tower for magnificent and dizzying views of Old Town, Toompea hill and the port.

The church itself dates back to at least 1267 when it is thought to have served a group of Scandinavian merchants who settled in the area. Various legends insist the church got its name from either the giant or the mysterious stranger who built it, however it was in fact dedicated to King Olaf II of Norway.

Its current shape and size were set in the 16th century. Inside are high, vaulted naves and a historicist interior design that dates to after the 1830 fire.

Free with Tallinn Card.

The mysterious, triangular shape towering above the trees next to Pirita River belongs to the ruins of St. Bridget's Convent. Founded in 1407 as part of a Swedish religious order, St. Bridget's was the largest convent in the Livonian territories. It operated here until the forces of Ivan the Terrible destroyed it during the Livonian war in 1577.

In addition to its 35-metre gabled facade, visitors to the ruins can see several walls, staircases and cellars, as well as a farmer's cemetery that developed here in the 17th century.

Nearby is the modern building of the St. Bridgettine Order, who re-established a convent here in 2001.

Free with Tallinn Card.

Easily the most picturesque of Old Town's lanes, St. Catherine's is a narrow walkway that runs between Vene and Müürivahe streets, along the back of what used to be St. Catherine's Church.

What makes the passage particularly interesting is that it's home to the St. Catherine's Guild, a collection of craft workshops where artists use traditional methods to create and sell glassware, hats, quilts, ceramics, jewellery, hand-painted silk and other wares. The workshops are housed in the small, 15th- to 17th-century rooms on the south side of the lane, and are set up in an open-studio fashion so visitors can watch the artists at work, be it glass-blowing, weaving or pottery making.

As absorbing as these displays can be, St. Catherine's Passage is more about ambience than anything else. No other place in Tallinn combines creativity with a Medieval atmosphere quite like it.

For a vivid example of the history of altruism and charity in Tallinn – or at least a close look at some unearthed graves – visit St. John the Baptist’s Almshouse Museum, the newest branch of the Tallinn City Museum.

Located a half-kilometre outside the Old Town, this charitable institution was active in various incarnations from 1237 right up to the 1960s.

In 2004 a museum-pavilion was set up over its ruins. Here you can see archaeological findings from its excavated cellars and cemetery. Texts and multimedia programs show the history of the almshouse as well as that of the surrounding neighbourhood.

Saints, dancing skeletons and silver – not to mention the occasional organ concert – are the main attractions at this imposing, 13th-century church.

Founded by German merchant/settlers from the island of Gotland sometime around 1230, the sturdy church was designed to double as a fortress in the days before the town wall was built. The building survived the reformationist looting of 1523, but wasn't so lucky in the 20th Century when it was destroyed by World War II bombs.

Since its restoration in the 1980s St. Nicholas' has functioned as a museum specializing in works of religious art, most famously Bernt Notke's beautiful but spooky painting Danse Macabre (Dance with Death). Exquisite altarpieces, baroque chandeliers and medieval burial slabs are also on display, while the Silver Chamber is home to stunning works by members of town's craft guilds.

The building's acoustics also make it a prime concert venue, with organ or choir performances held here most weekends.

This hall was the historic home of the Oleviste Guild, an organisation that united craftsmen from what were considered the lower-class trades – butchers, tanners, gravediggers – who were by and large Estonian.

The guild began using the house a gathering place as early as the 14th century, but in the 15th century it was extensively rebuilt. At the end of the 17th century however, the Oleviste Guild was merged with the Kanut Guild and faded out of existence.

In 1919 the hall was bought by the Black Heads' guild next door and incorporated into its interior. Through repeated rebuilding the hall's façade has lost its medieval look and instead bears an Art Nouveau-inspired appearance. What remains of the Oleviste Guild Hall's original interior today are its two-naved, vaulted guild hall and six star vaults.

With over 4,500 plant species and 123 hectares of space, the Botanical Garden near Pirita is the best place in Tallinn to stop and smell the flowers. In summer a stroll through the rose garden is a must, but the extensive, lush greenhouses make this a popular destination all year round. Here you can find everything from bananas to decorative house plants.                                           Free with Tallinn Card.

While in the area, you can also visit the adjacent Metsakalmistu (Forrest Cemetery), where public figures of all sorts, from poets to politicians, are buried.

This sprawling event venue in Kadriorg has a special place in the hearts of Estonians. It was here in 1988 that the Singing Revolution, a massive, musical demonstration against Soviet rule, set Estonia on its road towards independence.

The grounds feature an outdoor concert arena, built in 1959, and host a multitude of large concerts and festivals through the year. Most famously the site is home to the Estonian Song and Dance Celebration, an unforgettable event that takes place every five years, drawing together up to 30,000 performers and 200,000 spectators.

The Song Grounds Light Tower is open on weekdays for anyone who wants to climb up 42 meters of stairs to get a magnificent view of Tallinn and its bay.

Currently closed to the public but still clearly visible from eastern parts of the city, this 314m TV tower in Pirita is an impressive example of Soviet engineering. It's also the tallest structure in the country.

The tower was opened in 1980 and until recently it had a restaurant operating on its 170m-high observation deck. On a clear day visitors could see the Finnish coastline from this level.

At the base of the tower, a few bullet holes can be seem, remnants of an attempted takeover by Soviet military forces in 1991.

If it hops, flies or slithers, you can find it at the Tallinn Zoo. Spread across an 87-hectare swathe of forested land, the zoo boasts one of Northern Europe's best collections.

The list of its residents includes rhinos, vultures, camels, polar bears, pythons, lions, bison and dozens of other species. You can visit the crocodiles and chimpanzees in the Tropical House, or make your way over to the Elephant House to see a pigmy hippo, a chinchilla, various snakes and, of course, an elephant.

The zoo happens to have one of the best collections of mountain goats and sheep in the world, but its real stars are its incredibly rare Amur leopards; only 30 to 35 of these animals still exist worldwide. The exhibit is home to Freddie and Darla along with their cubs Toomas and Kaia who were born here on May 15, 2008. For a sneak preview of these cats, visit the leopard-cam on the zoo's website. The best time to see the cubs romping around is just after dawn and just before sunset.

Kids will love the petting zoo, which operates here June to August, open Wed – Sun.

Group tours in English and other foreign languages can be arranged with prior booking.

Visiting zoo is free with Tallinn Card. Tallinn Card holders should enter from the main gate on Paldiski mnt.

The gleaming, Medieval church that stands at the centre of Toompea hill is best known by locals as the 'Toomkirik' (Dome Church), and it's the main Lutheran church in Estonia.

Established sometime before 1233 and repeatedly rebuilt since, the church displays a mix of architectural styles. Its vaulted main body dates to the 14th century, while its baroque tower was an addition from the late 1770s.

Historically this was the church of Estonia's elite German nobles, a fact that becomes clear once you step through the doors. The interior is filled with elaborate funereal coats of arms from the 17th to the 20th centuries as well as burial stones from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Among the notables buried here are Pontus de la Gardie, who commanded Swedish forces during the Great Northern War, Adam Johann von Krusenstern, the Baltic-German admiral who led Russia's first expedition around the world, and Scottish-born Admiral Samuel Greig of Fife, rumoured to be Catherine the Great's lover.

Just inside the main entrance you'll find a large stone slab which reads, "Otto Johann Thuve, landlord of Edise, Vääna and Koonu Ehis grave, 1696 A.D." Thuve, now sometimes referred to as 'Tallinn's Don Juan', was an incurable drinker and womaniser. As he lay dying, however, he asked to be buried here at the threshold of the church so that god fearing people, as they kneel to pray upon entering, might eventually save his soul from his sinful ways.

Established in 2007, Tallinn's synagogue is by far the most modern house of worship in the city. It was a long time coming. During World War II, the Jewish community that had existed in Tallinn was all but wiped out, and its synagogue bombed. In the years following the war, a few native Jews returned to Tallinn, joined by many more Russian Jews, but the Soviet regime had outlawed any open observance of Judaism.

It was only after Estonia regained independence in 1991 that a real Jewish religious community was reestablished here. It started with a cultural center, then a Jewish school. In 2000, following the appointment of Rabbi Shmuel Kot as the chief rabbi of Estonia, a prayer centre was set up in a nearby building. 

With the opening of the synagogue, the Jewish community was given a new focus. In addition to hosting religious services and Jewish holiday celebrations in its 200-seat main hall, it oversees the preparation and distribution of kosher food, as well as hosting a Mikvah, and a Jewish museum.

Perched on a limestone cliff and towering over the rest of the city, Toompea Castle has always been the seat of power in Estonia. Ever since the German Knights of the Sword first built a stone fortress here in 1227-29, every foreign empire that ruled Estonia used the castle as its base. Today, appropriately, it's home to Estonia's Parliament.

The castle has been revamped countless times through the centuries, but still retains the basic shape it was given in the 13th and 14th centuries. From its front, visitors can only see a pink, Baroque palace dating to the time of Catherine the Great. A look at its opposite side, visible from the base of the hill, gives a much more Medieval perspective.

From the Governor's Garden at the castle's southern edge, the 46-metre Pikk Hermann tower comes into view. The tower is a vital national symbol: tradition dictates that whichever nation flies its flag over Pikk Hermann also rules Estonia. Each day at sunrise the Estonian flag is raised above the tower to the tune of the national anthem.

Open since as far back as 1422, this curious little shop on the corner of Town Hall Square is in fact the oldest continuously running pharmacy in Europe. Ten generations of the same family, the Burcharts, operated it from1581 to 1911. It was so famous in its day that the Russian tsar used to order medicines from here.

Remedies sold at the pharmacy in Medieval times included snakeskin potion, mummy juice and powdered unicorn horn (for male potency), but it was also a place to buy everyday items like jam, tea, claret, gunpowder and, most importantly, marzipan. Marzipan was one of the pharmacy's best sellers, one that local legend insists was actually invented as a curative here in the 15th century.

Today the historic site still operates as a pharmacy, selling modern products, but its side room houses an interesting display of 17th- to 20th-century medicinal bric-a-brac.

Picturesque Town Hall Square has been the undisputed hub of Old Town for the last eight centuries. Surrounded by elaborate merchant houses and, in summer, packed with café tables, it's a natural magnet for tourists.

Historically it served as a market and meeting place, and was the site of at least one execution (resulting from a dispute over a bad omelette). Find the round stone marked with a compass rose in the middle of the square. From this spot, with a little stretching and bending, you can see the tops all five of Old Town's spires.

Today, the square remains the social heart of the city, a venue for open-air concerts, handicraft fairs and Medieval markets. Each winter it's home to the town's Christmas tree – a tradition that stretches back to 1441 – and a buzzing Christmas Market. In spring it hosts the Old Town Days festival, a modern version of a Medieval carnival, where traditions from the Middle Ages are kept alive.

Notable buildings around the square include the Town Hall and the Town Hall Pharmacy.

With nearly 2km of its original city wall still standing, Tallinn boasts one of Europe’s best preserved Medieval fortifications. In fact, a large part of what gives Old Town its fairytale charm is the system of walls and and towers that surrounds it.

Work on the town's defenses first began in 1265, but the current outline of the wall dates to the 14th century. By its heyday in the 16th century, the wall was 2.4km long, 14-16m high, up to 3m thick, and included 46 towers. Today 1.9 km of the wall and roughly half of the original towers still loom over Old Town, evoking images of heroic knights and damsels in distress.

The best places to see the wall from the outside are the Patkuli view platform on Toompea and the Tornide väljak (Tower Square), a park area near the train station.

It's also possible to get a look at the wall from the inside. The portion of the wall that’s open to the public connects Nunna, Sauna and Kuldjala towers. Visitors can climb up and imagine what it felt like to guard the town against would-be invaders, but the wall is even more popular for its picturesque view of the red-tiled roofs of Old Town.

Free with Tallinn Card.

This pair of picturesque, ivy-covered towers at the beginning of Viru Street – one of the main pedestrian arteries into Old Town – is often the very first glimpse visitors get of historic Tallinn. Anyone passing between them couldn't be blamed for thinking they've left the 21st century behind and landed smack in the middle of the 18th.

The towers are actually only the foregates of what was a much more complex gate system built in the 14th century. It included a large, square tower that stood father back along the street, close to where the city wall can be seen.

Most of the gate was pulled down in the 1880s to make room for traffic, but these two towers remained and have since become a symbol of the town.