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Estonia
(Eesti)
As German knights embarked on their 13th-century conquest of the pagan Baltic tribes, the Danes secured a foothold in northern Estonia in 1219.  After a 1343 uprising, the Danish king sold his Estonia territories to the Livonian Order of knights.
With the dissolution of the Livonian Order in 1561, Sweden gained control of northern Estonia, and acquired the rest by 1645.  Estonia was ceded to Russia by the 1721 Peace of Nystadt. Estonian coat-of-arms Russia restored the rights of the local nobility in its Baltic provinces, and emancipated Estonian serfs by 1819 — more than four decades before Russian peasants were granted similar privileges.
Revolution in Russia allowed Estonia to declare independence in 1918, which the new Soviet government recognized in 1920.  Two decades later, the Red Army occupied the Baltic States, which were soon annexed to the USSR.  Approximately 90,000 Estonians died during the Soviet and subsequent Nazi occupation, and another 60,000 fled to Sweden and Germany upon the Soviet return in 1944.  Tens of thousands more were deported to concentration camps after the war.

    Like the other Baltic States, Estonia achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, but a border dispute with Russia was settled only in 1997.  Estonia was the first of the Baltic States to begin accession talks with the European Union, and has made a remarkable economic transformation in the decades since independence.  Integrating the large Russian minority — about a quarter of the population — remains a challenge.

Tallinn town hall, built between 1371 and 1404

Tallinn (Reval) UNESCO World Heritage List

 Guarding the town hall

Site of an Estonian trading settlement since at least the 9th century, Tallinn was conquered by Waldemar II, King of Denmark, in 1219.  The modern name for the city probably derives from the Estonian Taani linn, or "Danish town".
Town Hall Square, looking west towards the Niguliste Church   Town hall at night   Detail from the town hall
Town Hall Square hosted markets from the 11th century until 1896 "Olde Hansa" stall on Vana Turu tänav (street)
Another view of Town Hall Square, looking northwest     Our waitress at "Old Hansa", a medieval theme restaurant on Vana Turg
Former jail behind the town hall, now a photography museum The Knights of the Sword — a German crusading order headquartered in nearby Livonia — took Tallinn from the Danes in 1227. Raeapteek served as a pharmacy since 1422
  Medieval house on Vana Turu tänav  

 
The knights erected the first stone fort on the Toompea, a hill overlooking the town. The Danes regained control in 1238, but turned their lands over to the Teutonic Order in 1346.
Houses on Kuninga tänav   Gallery on Vana Turu tänav   Detail of a building at the corner of Vana Turg & Viru tänav   Old well on Rataskaevu tänav
Niguliste Church at night German merchants from Visby, off the Swedish coast, set up shop in Tallinn during this period. Once a 16th century hospital, St. Michael's Swedish Lutheran Church served as a weightlifting room under the Soviets
Built in the 13th century, Niguliste Church is now a museum and concert hall
Entrance to Katerina käik, a shortcut between Müürivahe & Vene tänav Viru Gates, the western entrance to the Old Town The town, which the Germans called Reval, became a member of the Hanseatic League in 1285. Käsitöö market, inside the city walls by the Viru Gates Katerina käik runs past the Domenican Monastery & St. Catherine's Church
Old and new intersect inside the Viru Gates
The knights and local bishop, who together ruled Reval from atop the Toompea, often came into conflict over control of the town.
Souvenir store behind the Holy Spirit Church This oldest clock in Tallinn on the facade of the Holy Spirit Church dates from 1684 Pühavaimu Kirik (Holy Spirit Church) also features the oldest tower bell in Estonia (1433)
Consequently, the German merchants built a wall around the lower town to protect themselves from their would-be masters up on the hill.
Art Nouveau building at Pikk 18 Gothic doorway of the Great Guild, dating from 1410 Detail from another house on Pikk tänav (Long Street), built in 1908-09
  Brotherhood of the Blackheads, an association of unmarried merchants, on Pikk tänav  
Entrance to the Art Nouveau at Pikk 18 St. Canutus guild hall (left) dates from the 1860s
Prosperity faded in the 16th century, as Reval was caught up in the struggles between Sweden and Russia.  Sweden finally gained control of the city in 1561.
Pikk tänav, with the Olevi Residents hotel down the alley to the right We stopped in the Texas Honky Tonk Cantina, on Pikk tänav, for a little taste of home Craig in the Texas Honky Tonk Cantina, where the sign reads: "Better one feet in NATO than cold ass in Siberia"
Bremeni Tower, part of the city walls along Vene tänav Church of St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, on Vene tänav Approaching Bremeni Tower along Bremeni käik
Lithuanian embassy, just outside the city walls on Uus tänav In 1570-71, during the Livonian War, Reval survived a 29-week siege by Tsar Ivan the Terrible. Hellemanni Tower, behind the Kinomaja cinema on Uus tänav
Great Coast Gate, entrance to the Old Town from the port, on Pikk tänav      Peter the Great captured Reval for Russia once and for all in 1710, during the so-called Great Northern War. Along the city walls on Lai tänav
  Craig in front of "Fat Margaret", a 16th-century bastion which guards the northern approach to the city  
"Broken Line" memorial to a 1994 ferry disaster 16th-century Chapel of Our Lady, outside the Oleviste Kirik (St. Olaf's Church)
House on Lai tänav (Wide Street) Tallinn City Theater (left), with the tower of St. Olaf's in the distance Detail of a Neo-Renaissance house on Lai tänav Entrance to a courtyard on Lai tänav
Reval served as a naval base, and, along with Riga & St. Petersburg, was a major port of the empire.
Nun's Tower, with the Suur-Kloostri gate Church on Suur-Kloostri Church of the Blessed Virgin with Three Hands, on Kooli tänav
Sunrise from the "Square of Towers", with the spire of St. Olaf's Estonian peasants from the countryside swelled the local population by the outbreak of World War I. Corner of Aida & Kooli tänav
Craig & Laura, with some well-preserved city walls Outside the city walls on Nunne tänav
Pikk jalg gate tower, on the way to the Toompea   Looking down Pikk jalg ("Long leg"), with Oleviste Kirik in the distance   "Long leg" at the top of Pikk jalg   Approaching Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, at the end of Pikk jalg
Officially renamed in 1918, Tallinn served as capital of an independent Estonia until 1940, when the Soviets annexed all three of the Baltic States.
Alexander Nevsky once won a battle near the Neva, the river that flows through St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, built in 1894-1900 Alexander Nevsky at night The Russian Orthodox cathedral stands across from the Estonian Parliament Russian wedding at the cathedral
Iconostasis inside the cathedral
Toom-Rüütli tänav, on the Toompea The Toomkirik (Dome Church) was founded by the Danes in 1219 Souvenir shop on Toom-Rüütli tänav
Tallinn was occupied by the Nazis during World War II, and badly damaged by Soviet bombing, which reached its peak in 1944.
Looking east over the city from the Toompea View to the northeast towards the harbor Laura overlooking the city from the Toompea
  View from inside the Kiek-in-de-Kök ("Peep-in-the-Kitchen") Tower  
Laura high above the city, with Oleviste Kirik and the Tallinn harbor Craig at the Toompea, with the city walls and St. Olaf's in the distance
After the war, the city continued to expand, its population inflated by Russian and other immigrants from the Soviet Union.
Path from the Toompea along Komandandi tee Gate guarding Lühike jalg (Short Leg), another way to the Toompea Komandandi Garden, on the Toompea
Tall Hermann Tower, behind the parliament building Nowadays, nearly half of all Tallinn residents are ethnically Russian. Sculpture in Hirve Park, outside the city walls
Hangin' out in Toompark, just west of the Old Town Memorial to Estonian independence, at the corner of Toompea tänav & Falgi tee

Practical Information

We've visited Tallinn twice, each time in search of new Russian visas.  Our first trip was in August 2003, and we traveled to Tallinn a second time — after an unfortunate incident at the Russian border — in April 2004.

  • Hotels: During our first trip, we stayed at the UniqueStay Hotel, which features computers with free internet in each of the rooms.  Our second stay was at the Olevi Residents, on the top floor of a seven-story building with no elevator.
  • Restaurants: Olde Hansa captures the medieval atmosphere of Tallinn, while the Texas Honkey Tonk Cantina serves reasonably good Tex-Mex food.  We also enjoyed Controvento (Italian) and Elevant (Indian).
  • Transportation: We arrived in Tallinn both by bus and by train, but made our way around on foot from there.
  • Miscellaneous: Estonia and the other Baltic States are famous for their amber — we found some nice jewelry at Amber Waves, on Kiriku Square.

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This page was first published 14 February 2005, and last updated 21 January 2005.

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