Tallinn by foot and by bicycle: An old and a new town
We arrive in Tallinn after a couple of days in Helsinki, thankful that even though it’s 7pm, the northern summer will give us three more hours to explore. We’re excited to wander through what everyone says is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Europe.
The biggest and oldest cathedrals
Our walking tour starts with St. Mary’s Cathedral (the birth point of Tallinn) and St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (the largest cathedral in town).
St. Mary’s Cathedral is on the site of the original Tallinn settlement, thought to have existed from the late 1st millennium BC. In 1219, King Valdemar II from Denmark raided Tallinn and built a new fortress on Toompea Hill. In 1240, they finished building a wooden church, dedicated it to the Holy Virgin Mary and named it the mother church of all Estonian churches. The Gothic exterior dates from around the 14th century.
Tallinn flourished during the 14th–16th centuries. It was part of the Hanseatic League and had been sold to the Teutonic Knights, who passed it on to Sweden. Peter the Great captured Tallinn in 1710. The Russians then occupied the city until 1918. St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral dates from around 1900. While it is a beautiful cathedral and the city’s largest, many Estonians hate how it represents a period of Soviet occupation.
The most expensive toilet in the world
In 1918, Estonia declared independence from Russia. But in 1941, German forces occupied and destroyed most of the country (fortunately, not much of Old Tallinn town, though). Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, the USSR took control from 1940 to 1991. When the Supreme Soviet State of Estonia declared independence in 1991, Tallinn finally became the capital of an independent Estonia.
The Estonian government went on a spending spree. While making our way up to the top of Toompea Hill, we come across evidence of the spree. Made of black marble and costing 2.3 million kroon to install, this toilet could be the most expensive in Europe. Unsurprisingly, the Estonian government is heavily criticised for building it.
Views of Old Town
Our little tour continues onto the Kohtuotsa Viewpoint. What a spectacular view!
More spectacular views follow as we walk around the top of St Olaf’s Church, once the tallest building in the world. It’s also the most unlucky. Lightning has struck the building at least 8 times. It has burned down 3 times. I conquer my fear of heights, climb to the deck and try not to think about how the ‘protective’ rails slope outwards.
Medieval walls
We take in the last of the evening light and wander around some of the town’s medieval walls. The walls are one of the main reasons that Tallinn is a World Heritage Site. The first wall was built in 1265, and over a mile of the original wall, along with 26 defence towers and 2 full gates, still exist. I can see walls and towers everywhere I look. Walls that you can walk through, on or under.
Medieval dining
The sun finally sets over the medieval skyline as we enter Peppersack Restaurant. A medieval-style eatery, we are treated to medieval dining, beer, mead and dancing. We are also on time for the nightly demonstration of medieval fighting on the staircase and all around the tables. The food is simple but tasty and goes down well with a swig of beer. It is a highly recommended evening of fun and frivolity.
Kiek in de Kok
On our way home, we wander past a sign that tells us exactly what we want to do the next day—not that we know what it is.
We awake early to the northern summer sun, ready for a good Kiek in the Kok, which stands for ‘peep into the kitchen’. I’m not quite sure where the kitchen is, but we spend the first half of the morning at a tower (now a museum), learning about Estonian history and walking through the medieval walls.
The Russian influence
We leave the museum and meander through town to the wonderful team at the Tallinn Tourist Tent, who take tourists on walking and cycling tours throughout the summer. They are a happy and informative bunch of people, and I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Our first cycling tour of the day takes us through the suburbs and shows us the Soviet influence on modern-day Tallinn.
We ride past the train station and learn about when a train failed to stop and hit an illegally parked BMW. We stop at the Russian flea market and try to buy the cheapest, most interesting object we can find.
Kalamaja District
Then, we enter the Kalamaja District with its unique mixture of old and new Russian architecture. Some streets are lined with poorly made apartment complexes built to house the working class, many of which are now derelict.
We ride through Kalamaja Park, which was a cemetery until 1964 when the Soviets flattened it and used the gravestones to build fences in nearby areas.
Leaving the park, we see the district’s future as it quickly becomes a mecca for the new generation and its hipster culture. We see plenty of examples of old Russian buildings enhanced with new modern additions and learn about plans for making the suburb a trendy, vibrant place to live.
Patarei Prison
Under an ever-darkening sky, we push on with the promise of a drink in the not too distant future. As we pass through the gates of what seems to be a prison, we start to think our tour guide is just making it all up. We stop to hear about how the structure used to be a Russian fort before it was turned into Russian barracks and then a prison used by the Russians, Germans and eventually the Estonians. It was closed in 2005 and is now a museum.
As the skies threaten, we turn a corner and see the promised land. A small pop-up bar hidden within the prison grounds serves cold beer and not much else. Good enough for Michael and I. As we order refreshments, the skies open up and drench the surroundings. Sitting on hard wooden stools looking at the rain pouring down, it’s much easier to imagine how terrible prison life would have been in a cold, snowy winter.
MS Estonia
With the skies clearing, we finish the tour at the MS Estonia memorial platform. MS Estonia capsized in 1994 while crossing the Baltic Sea from Tallinn to Stockholm. More than 852 people died, trapped in freezing waters and unable to get out of the ship. Several reviews have criticised everything from the crew’s response to an incorrect issuing of the seaworthy certificate.
Hiding away from the rain
Tallinn’s old town is a very different place when it’s raining, with the rain pattering and glistening on the medieval walls and cobblestone streets. Just as we settled in for the afternoon, thinking our afternoon tour would be cancelled, it just stopped raining.
East Tallinn
The streets are slightly wetter when we take off after lunch.
An old garage is one of the interesting sights on the way out of town. I’m not parking my car in this one!
The main business and residential district is far from the working-class district we saw this morning. Again, the Russian influence is clear, albeit in a more preserved and expensive format.
Kadriorg Palace and Park
Talking of affluent neighbourhoods, our next stop is Kadriorg Park and Palace. It is a secluded neighbourhood built in 1714 to be Peter the Great’s family retreat. Their house, Kadriorg Palace, is a beautiful baroque structure. You’ll get envious looks if you own a place in this part of town.
Maarjamäe
Maarjamäe is our second-to-last stop.
What links a German cemetery, an obelisk honouring Russian soldiers killed while evacuating warships in 1918, a concrete structure commemorating Soviet troops killed in World War II, a bronze sculpture of a flock of birds called Perishing Seagulls symbolising two political powers, a pair of hands guarding an unknown something, concrete and iron figures honouring Soviet soldiers killed in an attempt to protect the city from German invasion during 1941, and a memorial path to pay tribute to people who died under communist rule?
An understandable anger at why there are so many Russian memorials in Estonia.
A fun fact is that the heavily Soviet-influenced memorial is next to a garden containing crumbling statues of Lenin and Stalin.
Our last stop is a beautiful angel statue with another strong Russian influence. It is a memorial to the crew of a Russian battleship that sank in the Gulf of Finland in 1893.
As we ride back into Tallinn, a brilliant thunderstorm hits the old town. It’s a fitting end to two beautiful days in a beautiful town. We are looking forward to the rest of Estonia. Our next stop is Kasmu, in the Lahemaa National Park.
