Walls of Tallinn
When you waddle around Tallinn, you will feel like you are returning to the Middle Ages, just having an internet connection. Jokes aside, Tallinn is a mesmerizing city full of history. Once, it was Europe’s greatest fortified city. Tallinn has altogether 46 defense towers and approximately 4 kilometers of surrounding walls. Feels like the Dubrovnik of the North. Today, about 26 towers and about 2 kilometers of walls are still in place. Let’s explore which one you can waddle to when exploring the old town.
In the late 14th century, they started to build a fortified wall around the city to protect against invaders. By the 16th century, the walls were raised to sixteen meters high with a thickness of 3 to 4 meters. This made it possible to defend against cannon fire. During the 16th century, Tallinn was one of the most fortified cities in the entire world. The wall stretched 4 kilometers around old Tallinn.
With so many towers to explore, it’s important to start with the rights ones. In this post, we will guide you through the towers and gates of Tallin and how you can waddle to see most of them.
Let’s start.
Viru Gate (Viru Värav)
The Viru Gate is one of the best-preserved towers. The gate dates from the 14th century, as do most of the towers, and sits at the entranceway into the Old Town. When you waddle into the Old Town through the gate, you feel like you have stepped back in time. The two towers have become a symbol for the Tallinn Old Town, and we recommend starting your waddle here.
And because we lived very close to Viru Gate, we managed to get a picture of each part of the day. 😅
Maiden Tower (Neitsitorn)
The Maiden Tower is pretty close to the Town Hall. As Viru Gates, the tower dates back to the 14th century. The tower suffered a lot of damage from wars on many occasions in its history, and you can see some of the canon damage upon close inspection.
One interesting fact about the tower is that it was used as a prison for prostitutes, which is why it is called the Maiden Tower. Legends says that some of the old prisoners still haunt the structure. On a dark night, you might see the lights of some old ghost roaming the stairs.
Tall Hermann Tower (Pikk Hermann)
You can find the Tall Hermann Tower at Toompea Castle. It is situated next to the Estonian Parliament building; thus, the Estonian flag always waves in the wind on top of it. It reaches 95 meters into the air at the top of the flag pole. It took 40 years to complete, and they began building it in 1360. In the 16th century, the tower’s height was raised to 45 meters.
The tower has ten floors and a viewing platform. A total of 215 stairs will take you up. During the raising of the flag of Estonia here each day, you can hear the National Anthem played. This typically happens at sunrise. The same event takes place around 10 pm. each evening.
Kiek in de Kök Museum
The tower was built in 1475, is 38 meters high, and is made with walls that are 4 meters thick. The walls were designed to stand up against cannon fire. You can see embedded cannon balls in the tower’s walls from the 16th century. It underwent a few modifications over time. For a while, it became a repository for archives and was used briefly as apartments. Today, the tower is a museum for the town’s fortification system.
An interesting fact, the phrase “Kiek in de Kok” derives from German, meaning “Peep into the Kitchen.” It was an old artillery tower, and occupants of the tower used to be able to peek down into the kitchens of nearby homes, hence the name.
Nunna, Sauna, and Kuldjala Towers (Town Wall)
These three ancient towers are among the few still open to the public. Nunna (the Nun’s Tower – named after the Cistercian Order located to the north in St. Michael’s Convent), Sauna (named after the sauna at St. Michael’s), and Kuldjala Torn (the Golden Foot Tower). You can waddle through all three of them as they are connected. It gives you a real sense of what the old town was like, and of course, the views from the top are a bonus.
Read also about the Round Tower in Copenhagen
Great Coastal Gate, Fat Margaret’s Tower
The Great Coastal Gate (Suur Rannavärav) and Fat Margaret Tower (Paks Margareeta) were designed to protect the city from seafaring invaders and impress visitors that would have arrived in the city by sea. The message they portrayed was clear: don’t even think about attacking the city from the sea.
The Great Coastal Gate is one of six remaining gates still intact from the old city wall system. They controlled access to the city during medieval times. The gate and tower have walls that are a little thicker than most surrounding structures. They measure up to 5 meters wide. (The average thickness of the city walls is 3 meters.)
The origins of Fat Margaret’s name are not well known. The best conjecture is that the tower was named for one of its larger cannons, while others hint at a cook called Margaret, who once cooked for the troops that stood guard. Today the Estonian Maritime Museum is located in the Fat Margaret Tower.
Tower behind Monks (Munkadetagune Torn)
The Tower behind Monks is at the Müürivahe and Munga streets crossroads, sandwiched between the Bremen Tower and the Helleman Tower. The Tower behind Monks was named due to its location behind the former Dominican monastery of Catherine. The tower housed an ammunition depot until the end of the 18th century.
It went through several fires over its time. The most recent one was in 1994. After that, it stood empty for some years, but after renovations were completed in 2010, the tower is again open to visitors.
Köismäe (Reperbahn) Tower
The name of the tower built in the second half of the 14th century comes from the nearby ropewalk (1525 torn achter Reperbanen). The initial tower had three stores (height 13.3 m) and a horseshoe-shaped layout. Later, considering the use of firearms, its walls were built thicker outside, and two new defense floors were added. The lower floors remained storerooms. The new defense floors had three embrasures and mine for smaller firearms. It was one of the largest and tallest (26.5 m) towers. Construction stages of the town wall can be observed on the exterior of the wall adjacent to the tower. The tower was restored in 1935, 1965, and 2002.
Epping Tower
This tower, situated in the middle of the town wall section on Laboratooriumi Street, is older than the two neighboring towers. Construction took place in the second half of the 14th century under the direction of councilor Tideman Eppinc. In the Middle Ages, it was known as “the tower behind the vicarage of St Olaf.” The initial tower had a horseshoe-shaped layout, was 11 meters tall, and had one storage and two defense floors.
After the second rebuild, the tower had six floors, including two new defense floors and storage rooms left in the lower part. The tower was restored in 1935-1936 and 2002-2003.
Tower Behind Grusbeke
The tower was built in one stage at the beginning of the 15th century. Its name refers to the owner of a nearby plot. The tower has three floors and a three-quarters circular layout. A 13-meter vaulted ammunition storeroom was at the bottom of the tower, which was connected to the rest by a hatch in the ceiling. There were three embrasures for artillery on the lower defense floor and a protruding toilet – a garderobe. The uppermost floor had embrasures for smaller firearms. The mostly destroyed walls of that floor were inaccurately restored in 1935-36. The tower was also restored in 1964-1965 and 2005.
Although there are more towers, these were the ones we explored.
Enjoy your waddle around the city!
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