Medieval Tallinn: Castles, Towers & Squares

Tumpi Castle has been home to Estonia's parliament, the Riigikogu, since 1922. Located on Tumpi Hill, the castle is rich in history, with roots going back to the 9th century. Over time Crusader knights, Danish kings and Swedish governors rebuilt and expanded it, weaving together medieval ramparts and a graceful baroque façade added during Catherine the Great's reign. Today the castle houses the Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament, where laws are debated beneath vaulted ceilings. Visitors stroll through rose-lined gardens, pausing at tall Hermann Tower, a 45-metre beacon, where the Estonian flag rises each dawn to the national anthem. The pink baroque façade visible today was added in the 18th century by the Russian Empire, making Tumpi Castle a building where every layer of its stone tells a different chapter of Estonian history – Danish, German, Swedish, Russian, and finally independent Estonian.

On the slopes of Toompea Hill, the Danish King's Garden is a pleasant landscaped garden enclosed by a section of the city walls and two towers. Named following the Danish invasion in 1219, the garden is a peaceful, slightly secluded corner of the old town. Legend has it that this is the birthplace of the Danish flag, the oldest continuously used national flag in the world. According to the legend, during the Battle of 1219 between the Danish Crusaders and the Estonian defenders, a red flag with a white cross fell from the sky, which the Danes interpreted as divine support and rallied to victory. That flag became the Dannebrog, the Danish national flag. Back in 1219, this is where the Danish King Valdemar II camped with his troops, before conquering Estonia. Whether true or legend, Denmark has used this story as the origin of its flag for centuries, and its supposed birthplace is this quiet garden in the old town of Tallinn.

About 1.85 km of the city wall has survived, as well as 26 defensive towers, two intermediate gates and parts of two front gates. You can walk along a small section of the wall that connects the Nuns, Sauna and Golden Foot Towers, which were built in the 14th century. The wall offers a wonderful view of the Old Town and Toompea Castle. The three ancient towers still open to the public include Nuna, the Nuns Tower, named after the Cistercian order located to the north in St Michael's Convent, and Sauna Tower, named after the public bathhouse that stood nearby. At the height of Tallinn's Hanseatic power, the full circuit of walls included 26 defense towers. Today this is the longest walkable stretch of the medieval walls. You enter at Vikeklustri 1 and walk the wall connecting all three towers, with views over Toompea Castle on one side, and the Old Town rooftops on the other. Walking this stretch at dusk, with the red-tiled rooftops below, gives the clearest sense of how the medieval city defended itself for 600 years.

Town Hall Square, also known as Raycosia Platz, is the beating heart of the lower half of Tallinn's Old Town. A central marketplace and meeting point for centuries, this lively square is surrounded by colourful old buildings. The lower town preserves to a remarkable extent the medieval urban fabric, including the town hall, pharmacy, churches, monasteries, merchants' and craftsmen's guilds, and the domestic architecture of the merchants' houses. The town hall itself, completed in 1404, is one of the best-preserved Gothic town halls in Northern Europe. On its weather vane stands Old Thomas, varna tumus in Estonian, a figure of a warrior that has been watching over the square since 1530. The original is in the Tallinn City Museum. The current one on the spire is a replica. Old Thomas has become one of the most beloved symbols of Tallinn, a guard who has kept watch over the same square for five centuries.