Estonia … a new country for me; one that I knew little about but proved to be an enchanting place to visit. I was in Helsinki for a conference so decided to stay the weekend for some exploring. I love Helsinki, particularly in June with the pleasant weather and eleven o’clock sunsets, but had visited the city a few times before, so thought I might get out into the Finnish countryside. Then, I discovered that a two hour ferry ride across the Bay of Finland in the Baltic Sea would land me in Estonia. So I bought a ticket to Tallinn, Estonia’s capitol city.
I arrived at the West ferry dock early the next morning. There were hundreds of people gathered in the terminal building but with e-tickets on our phones, a simple swipe opened the turnstile and the crowd dispersed quickly, heading down a long glass walkway to board the ship. I was traveling on Eckero Line, one of the three ferry lines that cross the Baltic to Tallinn. Not really what you’d think of a ferry, this ship was a cruise liner holding several hundred people, with bedrooms, lounges, four restaurants, movie theater, arcade room, several indoor and outdoor bars and lots of outside deck space to enjoy nice weather. I wanted to sit ouside – it was sunny, although not really warm, so I found a space on deck that was sheltered from the breeze. Right at 9am, the ship sounded its horn and we were off, navigating the multiple islands that surround Helsinki.
The sea was calm and two hours later we entered the Tallinn harbor. To our right were some highrise apartment buildings with the Tallinn SkyWheel in the background. The ferris wheel is readily visible from the harbor having been built on the roof of a shopping mall.
As the ship pulled into port, we could see the medieval Old Town atop a distant hill with its stone walls and turrets, spires and onion shaped domes. Along the harborfront juxtaposed against the medievil town was a major construction project. Estonia has a masterplan to develop the Old City Harbor into a destination district with shops, restaurants and public spaces as well as a new cruise terminal with increased dockage for boats. Today, most visitors arrive to Tallinn by boat. The only way to drive to Estonia is through Russia, not something many relish doing these days, so the government is anxious to make its harbor front a world class gateway to Tallinn.
I had booked a three hour city tour of Tallinn. My guide was standing near the gangplank as we disembarked holding a sign with my and four other people’s names. She herded us to her SUV, introduced herself as Katia and drove us to our first stop a few kilometers outside of Old Town Tallinn. We exitted the car into the beautifully manicured gardens of a red brick and stucco palace. Kadriorg Palace, which means Valley of Catherine in Estonian, was built as a summer residence for the emperor of Russia, Peter the First and his wife, Catherine. Construction began in summer of 1718. Catherine and Peter visited to lay some bricks at the start of construction but Peter died before the palace was completed. After his death the palace was rarely used and when Estonia became an independent country in 1918, the palace became state property eventually becoming a museum.
Tallinn’s most iconic landmark, visible from almost all points in the city given its hilltop location, is the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky. An Eastern Orthodox church, with a large central onion shaped cupola surrounded by four smaller ones, this beautiful place of worship was built in 1900 and dedicated to St. Alexander Nevsky in honor of the miraculous survival of Czar Alexander III and his family from a terrible train crash in 1888. The interior of the church is equally impressive with its large stained glass windows, three gold gilded altars, murals, mosaics and bronze chandeliers.
Our guide was a native Estonian, raised in Tallinn, with a Russian mother and Estonian father so knew the city and its history well. She explained that medieval Tallinn was actually two separate cities, the Upper Town, referred to as Toompea and the Lower Town. Toompea was an independent entity where govenment officials, bishops, clergy and military detachments resided so not suprising that the Cathedral was built here. Three hundred years ago there was only one narrow, winding street called Long Leg that connected the Toompea to the Lower Town, isolating the residents from the merchants and commoners that resided in the Lower Town. Toompea Castle, a fortress oringinally built in the 13th century by the conquering Danes was the seat of local authority. Over the next several centuries, as Tallinn was invaded by the Poles, Swedes and Russians, the castle was modified, fortified and rebuilt to fit the conquerers’ needs. In 1922, the current building with its pink and white expressionist facade was built as the home of the Riigikogu, the Parliament of the independent, but short lived Republic of Estonia established after WW1. During WW2, Estonia was again occupied, first by the Nazis, then by the ‘liberating’ Soviets. Annexed into the Soviet Union in 1940, Estonia did not regain its freedom until the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. Today the freely elected members of the Riigikogu once again legislate from this beautiful building.
From Toompea hill, we had an expansive view of the Lower Town with its spires, walls, pointed towers and town square. Reminescent of a town right out of a fairy tale, Old Town is a great example of well preserved 13th century architecure and city layout. Not surprisingly, Tallinn’s Old Town became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 and receives close to 5 million visitors annually.
The center and hub of commerical activity in medieval Lower Town was Town Hall Square. From Toompea, all we could see of the square below was the tall spire of the Town Hall with its famous weather vane. A man, sporting a wide brimmed hat, with sword in one hand and flag in another stands atop this weather vane and is fondly referred to as Old Thomas by townsfolk. Legend has it that Thomas was a young boy who uninvited, mischeviously and surreptitiously fired an arrow during an archery competition for the town’s distinguished knights and cleverly hit the target. Instead of being punished, he was offered a place in the town’s guard and became a gallant warrior during the many wars fought near Tallinn. Ever since, the figure on the weather vane above town hall has called Old Thomas as a tribute to his service and heroism.
Before heading down to Lower Town, we took a closer look at the city walls and one of its circular towers. In the early 1300s as Old Town became more and more prosperous, the threat of hostile attack increased so defensive stone walls roughly 20 feet high and 7 feet wide were erected around the town. The interior of the walls had a network of defensive trenches and moats were dug and filled with water around the outside of the wall. Up until the end of the 14th century common practice was to build semi circular towers or quadrangular turrets atop the gates. Circular towers were built starting in 15th century and the Tall Hermann tower is one of the best remaining examples of this. The Estonian flag flies from the tower top but modernization has hit with the placement of a radio antenna.
We’d gotten a bird’s eye view of Lower Town, so were eager now to explore the square and its surrounding buildings. Katia mentioned that Old Town Square had recently celebrated its 700th anniversary! The square’s most prominent and important building is the Town Hall with Old Thomas atop its towering weather vane. In medieval times, this was the place where merchants arranged deals, city laws were read and the place where the town’s governing council met to make important decisions and legislate. Today the builidng is used for festive receptions and concerts and presents the birth certificates of the city’s newbourne citizens.
Many of the medieval buildings surrounding the square have been repurposed today as shops, boutiques, hotels, cafes and restaurants. One building, however, has remained continuously operating over the centuries – the pharmacy. The chemist in the Old Town pharmacy was first mentioned in a document in 1422 and since then building has been used as a place where medicines and remedies are dispensed (certainly with some changes over the centuries)!
In a narrow street off the square, we visited a row of shops where crafters, dressed in medieval garb, demonstrated production techniques of the time – textile weaving, soap and candle making, calligraphy and even hat making. Another store had an assortment of spices, jellies, sweets and other food stuffs of the time for sale. Katia walked us in and out of narrow winding streets and I tried to mentally bookmark the places I wanted to revisit after the formal tour.
After the tour, I was famished so had lunch under a bright yellow umbrella in the town square watching an endless parade of tourists pass. Refueled, I began my independent explortation, trying to retrace my steps first to Upper Town for some souvenir shopping, then to the crafter’s row and spice shop in Lower Town. I didn’t have much time and was getting frustrated backtracking given my poor sense of direction, so instead decided to abandon shopping, and wander to places where I hadn’t been, browsing, observing and enjoying the ambience of this special town. One pleasant find – a street paralleling one of the outer walls with stall after stall of fresh cut flowers and plants.
By just observing, I noticed a downspout protruding from the stone wall of a house, fashioned after a gold crowned dragon. No breathing fire for this dragon but only rain water pouring from its mouth. All too soon, it was time to go back to the ferry terminal. I would love to spend a few days vs. a few hours in Tallinn and its surrounding countryside. A friend recommended a combined trip to Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia so mentally put this on my places to go list.
The ocean was still as we ferried back to Helsinki. Despite the cooler evening temperatures, I sat outside on the top deck watching as the sinking sun cast a shimmering swatch of golden light on the rippling surface of the sea.
The sun had set and dusk was settling as we chugged into the Helsinki harbor. We were the lone vessel. All was still; a peaceful beauty to the waning day and a perfect ending to my Tallinn daytripping.
June, 2023