Old Town
Dating from the 13th century, the imposing St Nicholas' Church (Niguliste kirik) was badly damaged by Soviet bombers in 1944 and a fire in the 1980s, but…
Must-see attractions in Old Town
Old Town
Completed in 1404, this is the only surviving Gothic town hall in northern Europe. Inside, you can visit the Trade Hall (whose visitor book drips with…
Old Town
The Great Guild Hall (1410) is a wonderfully complete testament to the power of Tallinn's medieval trade guilds. Now a branch of the Estonian History…
Old Town
In Tallinn all roads lead to Raekoja plats, the city's pulsing heart since markets began setting up here in the 11th century. One side is dominated by the…
Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral
Old Town
The positioning of this magnificent, onion-domed Russian Orthodox cathedral (completed in 1900) at the heart of the country's main administrative hub was…
Old Town
This stout, five-storey cannon tower was one of Tallinn’s most formidable defences when built in the 15th century. Its name (amusing to English ears) is…
Old Town
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…
Old Town
Tours exploring the 17th-century Swedish-built tunnels connecting the bastions that ring the town walls depart from the Kiek in de Kök tower. Over the…
Old Town
Perhaps Tallinn’s oldest building, St Catherine's Monastery was founded by Dominican monks in 1246. In its glory days it had its own brewery and hospital…
Old Town
Running along the northwestern border of Old Town, the most photogenic stretch of Tallinn's remaining 1.9km of medieval walls connects nine towers,…
Old Town
The blue-and-gold clock on the facade of this striking 13th-century Gothic church is the oldest in Tallinn, dating from 1684. Inside are exquisite…
Old Town
Tallinn's cathedral (now Lutheran, originally Catholic) was initially built by the Danes by at least 1233, although the current exterior dates mainly from…
Old Town
Tallinn’s City Museum is actually split over seven different sites. This location, its main branch, is set in a 14th-century merchant’s house and traces…
Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom
Old Town
The permanent exhibition here, ‘Freedom Without Borders’, is divided into five sections examining the suffering of Estonians over five decades of…
Old Town
Nobody's too sure of the exact date it opened, but by 1422 this pharmacy was already onto its third owner, making it the oldest continually operating…
Old Town
Erich Carl Hugo Adamson, a towering figure of 20th-century art in Estonia, is celebrated in this reverent little museum in a historic house with which he…
Old Town
This state puppet-museum's collection is a wonderful introduction to the art of puppetry from many different cultures and eras. There's enough interactive…
Old Town
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…
Old Town
Old Thomas (Vana Toomas), Tallinn’s symbol and guardian, has been keeping watch from his perch on the town hall's weathervane since 1530, although his…
Old Town
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…
Estonian Museum of Natural History
Old Town
Beginning as the collections of Estonian naturalists in the 19th century, the holdings at this natural history museum exceed 300,000 examples of the…
Old Town
This Janus-faced pile turns a sugar-pink baroque facade towards Toompea, and a stern 14th-century Livonian visage to the sea and intervening suburbs…
Old Town
This large paved plaza, once the staging ground for 'spontaneous' displays of Soviet enthusiasm, is now used for summer concerts, skateboarding, impromptu…
St Peter & St Paul’s Catholic Cathedral
Old Town
Looking like it was beamed in from Spain, this handsome 1844 cathedral was designed by the famed architect Carlo Rossi, who left his mark on the…
Old Town
Shaded by the 250-year-old linden trees of Lindamäe Park, this small mound near the top of Toompea is named after Linda, wife of Kalev, the heroic first…
Tallinn Museum of Orders of Knighthood
Old Town
You'd have to be really devoted to phaleristics (the study of medals and military insignia) not to resent the steep admission at this niche museum, but it…
Old Town
This novel gallery has come up with a way around the difficulty of borrowing great paintings from their home galleries: simply project images of…
Old Town
Built in 1827 on the site of an earlier Catholic church appearing in 15th-century records, St Nicholas' was the focal point for the Russian traders that…
Old Town
Only enthusiasts are likely to find much of interest in this little museum housed in the former town prison. Exhibits include selections of the wider…
Old Town
In among the guilds, beneath a fabulous sculpted art nouveau facade, this commercial gallery hosts small, often stimulating exhibitions of contemporary…
