Estonian National Museum

Top choice in Tartu


This immense, low-slung, glass-clad building is arresting – both Estonians and architecture lovers purred when it opened in late 2016. The permanent exhibition 'Encounters' covers national prehistory and history in some detail, paying plenty of attention to the period of Soviet occupations (fittingly – the museum is built over a former Soviet airstrip). Below ground, the wonderful 'Echo of the Urals' exhibition gives an overview of the various peoples making up the Finno-Ugric language family, and there's a hall for its wonderful temporary exhibitions.

The museum is in the grounds of Raadi Manor, which held the original national museum many years ago.


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