A sea fort built in the classicist style in 1840 as part of the defences of the Russian Empire, Patarei was subsequently used as a prison by the Estonian Republic, the Nazis and the Soviets. Peeling, dank and grim, its unrestored halls and cells are home to the unsettling exhibition 'Communism is Prison'. Adorned by explanatory panels, the courtyard walkways, solitary cells, washroom administrative rooms and execution chamber are open to explore.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Seaplane Harbour

0.19 MILES

When this cavernous, triple-domed building was completed in 1917, its reinforced-concrete shell-frame construction was unique in the world. Resembling a…

2. Estonian Museum of Contemporary Art

0.44 MILES

Despite its highfalutin name, this grungy old warehouse space is more slapped together than slick. It started as a squat collective in 2006, and…

3. Linnahall

0.44 MILES

Resembling a cross between a nuclear bunker, a WWII sea-fort and some inscrutable temple to a vanished god, the Linnahall is in fact a covered concrete…

4. Fat Margaret

0.56 MILES

Attached to the Great Coast Gate, this rotund 16th-century cannon tower once protected a major entrance to Old Town. It's now one half of the Estonian…

5. St Olaf's Church

0.62 MILES

From 1549 until 1625, when its 159m steeple was struck by lightning and burnt down, this (now Baptist) church was one of the tallest buildings in the…

6. Estonian Museum of Natural History

0.64 MILES

Beginning as the collections of Estonian naturalists in the 19th century, the holdings at this natural history museum exceed 300,000 examples of the…

7. Lower Town Wall

0.67 MILES

Running along the northwestern border of Old Town, the most photogenic stretch of Tallinn's remaining 1.9km of medieval walls connects nine towers,…

8. KGB Prison Cells

0.67 MILES

Formerly producing hushed dread in Tallinn's Soviet-era citizens, the KGB headquarters at Pagari 1 is now a historical site, and the Museum of Occupations…