Tallinn This Week › Sightseeings › The Old Town

The Old Town

What makes Tallinn a unique place is the Old Town with almost perfectly preserved medieval town structure and atmosphere: the network of streets dating from the 11th - 15th cent. and buildings mostly from the 14th - 15th cent. Over the centuries all of the most important buildings of the medieval town have survived: churches, public buildings, Town Hall (and the Town Hall Square) and Toompea castle. In addition, more than half of the medieval town wall with its towers is still standing. 80% of houses in the Old Town today were built in the Middle Ages, and the history of most of them is still traceable with the help of old documents. What helped to preserve the Middle Ages here is the fact that Tallinn has not been rebuilt so thoroughly as for instance Riga or Stockholm. The local building material, limestone, has its big part in the preservation of the Old Town, thanks to the stone Tallinn has been left untouched from any great fires. In addition, great fortifications have protected the town from damage. The local style of architecture is called Tallinn Gothic, which is, however, rather different from the real thing because of its ponderosity. In the Middle Ages Tallinn was also famous for its sculptural art, formed out of lasting material which was again, limestone.

The Old Town consists of three parts: Toompea, lower town and earthwork fortifications belt - the latter are parks today.