Tallinn (Estonia)
Tallinn is the most populous, primate, and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in northern Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, administratively lies in the Harju maakond. Tallinn with a population close to half a million people is the main financial, industrial, and cultural center of Estonia. It is located 187 km northwest of the country's second-largest city Tartu, however only 80 km south of Helsinki, Finland, also 320 km west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, 300 km north of Riga, Latvia, and 380 km east of Stockholm, Sweden. You would not consider as a beach city. However, in the summer, all the pleasures of a city break can be combined with a relaxing beach holiday. The Pirita District offers 2km of unspoiled sandy beaches with stunning views from the Baltic Sea.
The Estonian capital was not always named Tallinn. Before 1918, when the country gained independence, it was known as Reval, thought to be of German origin. According to legend, the origins of the old name come from a deer hunt when an animal fell off a cliff and perished. In German Reh-fall means ‘deer fall’. Many historians debate this theory and believe it is more likely to derive from the old Estonian county called Revalia.
Tallinn received Lübeck city rights in 1248. However, the earliest evidence of human population in the area dates back nearly 5,000 years.
Do you know some personalities coming from Tallinn? For example, Jaan Kross, by far the most translated and nationally and internationally best-known Estonian writer. He was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature or a tennis player Anett Kontaveit.
- Town Hall Square
- Alexander Nevski Cathedral
- St Catherine's Passage
- Toompea Castle
- Town Wall: Nunna, Sauna and Kuldjala Tower
- St. Olaf’s Church
- Danish King's Garden
- Kiek in de Kök Fortification Museum
- Old Town
- Estonia’s Maritime Museum
- Telliskivi Creative City
- Patarei Sea Fortress
- KUMU Century Art Project
- Estonian Open Air Museum
- Kadriorg park
- Tallinn Creative Hub
- Maiasmokk
- Tops
- Põhjala Brewery & Tap Room
- Maarjamäe mälestusväli
- Teater NO99
- Teletorn
- Ungern-Sternberg Palace
- Pakkhoone
- Raeapteek
- Pirita Klooster
- Kalamaja
- Nõmme – The village within the city
- Pirita Beach
- Uus Maailm