Tompea

You can use several ways to get to the "Upper Town" - Toompea...
First, you can climb by the Toompea street.
Secondly - go up the stairs, through the Patkuli viewing platform.
Thirdly - along the streets of Pikk Jalg and Luhike Jalg from the "Lower City".
Fourthly - from the Freedom Square.
There are no other ways, because the Toompea was separated from the "Lower City" by a fortress wall, most of which is perfectly preserved to our days.

We chose the last option and went to the Freedom Square along Harju Street, from the tourist center.
The square was built in the middle of the XIX century and its main attractions are:
the War of Independence Victory Column;
the St. John's Church.

The Victory Monument was opened on 23 June 2009, on the day of the Estonian national holiday - the Victory Day, as a memorial for those who fell during the Estonian War of Independence (1918—1920)
The monument is a pillar with a height of 23.5 m, on which stands the Cross of Liberty - the first Estonian order, established in 1919.

Opposite the monument is the St. John's Church, built in 1867, which is a large Lutheran parish church in Tallinn.
The church is built in the neo-Gothic style, with soaring lancet arches, and is a very large building, spanning three principal aisles, with a tall tower at the west end, topped with a decorative spire.
On the bell tower of the church is the oldest bell in Tallinn with Estonian inscriptions.

The interior of the church is very beautiful.

There is a choir and chancel, a small semi-circular apse, and a large vestry.

There is an organ that is installed above the entrance to the church...

To the right of the Victory Monument there are steps.
We climb the steps and go towards the red tower - up to the hill Toompea.

From a small viewing point you can see the tower of the city wall, and behind it the domes of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral...

And the streets of the "Lower Town", with the St. Nicholas' Church (Niguliste)...

We approached the tower of Kiek in de Kok.

It was the most powerful tower in Tallinn, it was built in 1475.
The tower was 38 m high and had walls 4 m thick.
The tower name translates as "Look at the kitchen", because with a 38-meter height the occupants of the tower could look into the kitchens of nearby houses.
Over the past centuries, the tower has been rebuilt many times and now its height with a dome is 49.4 meters.

Nearby there is a museum of the tower - the "Bastion Tunnels".

A little further is the Maiden's Tower...
It was built in the beginning of the XIV century, its height - 12.5 meters.
Over the centuries, the tower has been badly damaged and often restored.
Now, the tower is a museum...

From here, the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is already clearly visible beyond the trees.
Well, this cathedral is clearly visible almost everywhere in Toompea, like the St. Nicholas' Church in the "Lower Town".

We approached to the Toompea Castle and to the Tall Hermann's Tower along Falgi Tee street.
In every medieval town a fortress and a castle were built first.
In Tallinn - it are the fortress and the castle Toompea...
The fortress was founded by the Danish king in 1219 on the steep slope of Toompea hill, at an altitude of 50 meters above sea level.
In the XIII-XIV centuries the Toompea Fortress was the main base of the Danes in Northern Estonia.

Even now it was difficult for us to approach the wall of the fortress, well in the Middle Ages the stones fell and the resin was poured from above on the enemies.

At the end of the XIV century in the south-eastern part of the fortress was built the 48-meter observation tower "Tall Hermann".
It was a very powerful and well fortified tower, which increased the inaccessibility of Toompea Castle.

Today, the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) works in Toompea Castle, and the Estonian flag on the top of the Tall Hermann's Tower is one of the best-known symbols in Estonia.

A sports club is located next to the fortress and young boys and girls look at the walls and towers and remember their history.

But it's time to see Toompea Castle.
We climbed up a hill along Toompea Street and came to Castle Square or Palace Square (Lossi plats).
The Estonian capital began to be built on this place in the beginning of the XIII century.

The Toompea Castle occupies the western part of the square...
Part of the old castle was renovated by order of Catherine the Great in 1767-1773 and the eastern wall of the fortress was demolished.
The Baroque palace appeared on the site of the fortress wall.

But still it seems that the building is part of the fortress wall.

Now, the Estonian Parliament is here.

The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is located opposite the Toompea Castle.
*Alexander Nevsky Cathedral*

When you walk in the forest between the age-old pine trees and suddenly you see a powerful young oak, the question arises: "How did it come here"?
The same thought arises when you look at the cathedral...
Because the cathedral absolutely does not correspond to the local architecture.

The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is the operating Russian Orthodox Сathedral.
It was built in 1900, in memory of the miraculous rescue of Russian Emperor Alexander III in a railway accident on October 17, 1888.

When we were in Tallinn, part of the cathedral was on restoration.
But St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was beautiful...
There were a lot of tourists on the square.
They wanted to get inside the cathedral...

We left the Lossi Plats square and along the Toom-Kooli street we went to the Dome Church, the tower of which is already visible behind the houses.

The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin (Dome Church) is a Lutheran Cathedral, one of the oldest religious buildings in Tallinn.
*St. Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn*

It is located on Toom-Kooli Street in the Old Town of Tallinn, on Toompea Hill.
The cathedral is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The church was founded in the beginning of the XIII century and was rebuilt many times.
The height of the dome of the cathedral's tower is 68 meters.

Inside the church there are burials of the XIII-XIX centuries, sarcophagi, aristocratic family crests, banners and bladed weapons.

The small houses and courtyards are located near the church...

We looked in one courtyard and saw the domes of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral...
The domes proudly rise above the red roof tiles of houses.

A group of tourists came to another courtyard in Kohtu Street...

The guide spoke them in Italian and we did not understand anything.
A memorial signboard with Estonian text did not help us either...

It was the Ungern-Sternberg Palace, now it is the Estonian Academy of Sciences.
The palace was built in 1868.

Yes, it is "Upper Town" - the Toompea.
A district of nobility and aristocrats...
Do you want to imagine yourself as a feudal lord or a knight who stands on the fortress wall and looks down at the "Lower Town"?
OK, we will go along the narrow streets of Toompea to the observation platform "Patkuli".

The lookout point "Patkuli" - one of several viewing platforms, which are located on the fortress wall.

We stood on the fortress wall, and the "Lower Town" was located below us!

A lot of tourists: calm Finns, funny Japanese and energetic southerners - either the Spaniards, or the Italians.
Therefore, it was difficult to approach the fortress wall to make several photos...

There are many small shops where you can buy souvenirs...

You can get down the stairs from the viewing point to the "Lower Town".

But we did not hurry and went further along the streets of the "Upper Town"...

Such lovely narrow streets of the "Upper Town"!...

Here, you can spend a lot of time, walking along the streets next to small souvenir shops.

But if you get tired of walking, you can call a taxi or take a rickshaw.

One more viewing area - the "Kohtuotsa" is located on Kohtu Street...

The panorama of the "Lower Town" was even better here.

From this viewing platform you can see not only the red roofs of old buildings and churches, but also modern skyscrapers of glass and steel.
This contrast has its own beauty...

On the Kohtuotsa lookout point there were also many tourists from all over the world.
You can buy a souvenir and listen to street musicians.

We saw the "Upper Town", where aristocrats lived, and now it's time to see the "Lower Town", where ordinary people lived.
You can go down the wide cobblestone street Pikk Jalg, horse carts and knights moved here in the Middle Аges.

If you want to get from the viewing point "Kohtuotsa" to Pikk Jalg Street, you should return to the Dome Church...

And then you need to go around the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

The Pikk Jalg Street begins next the Lossi Plats Square.
The street descends from the hill of Toompea down to the tower Pikk Jalg and connects the upper - a noble part of the city with the lower - a merchant part of the city.

The street was built in the XIV century and was first mentioned in 1342.
Its length is 270 meters.
The name "Pikk Jalg" is translated from Estonian as a "Long Leg". Why so called the street - no one remembers...

The fortress wall and the Long Leg Gate Tower appeared on the Pikk Jalg Street in the 15th century.

The aristocracy of Toompea lived behind a fortress wall...

The gate in the tower was closing at 9 pm.
So the citizens of the "Lower Town" defended themselves against the knights of Toompea.

We went through the Pikk Jalg Gate to the "Lower Town" - city of merchants and artisans...

And we ended up on the Pikk Street...

We looked ... and went back to the street "Long Leg".

Now tourists are walking here and artists are selling paintings, but 500 years ago the knights on horses and the carts were driving along the street.
It was a street for cargo...

But if there is a street "Long Leg", then there must be a street "Short Leg", for pedestrians.
And here it is...
The Luhike Jalg Street - the "Short Leg".

We pass through the "Short Leg Gate", which also was closed at night...

The Luhike Jalg Street - a winding, small, pedestrian street, like stairway.
Its length is 95 meters.
The street was first mentioned in 1353.
As the street "Long Leg", the street "Short Leg" connects the Upper part of the Town with the Lower part.

The Luhike Jalg Street connects with the Niguliste Street in the "Lower Town"...

Also, you can go upstairs along Luhike Jalg Street to the Danish King's Garden.

The Danish King's Garden in Tallinn is a stone platform, which is located above the "Lower Town".

But where does this name come from - the Danish King's Garden?
According to legend, this place in 1219 was the battle of Estonians with the Danes.
Danish monks asked God for help...
And a large red canvas with a straight white cross - Dannebrog (the national flag of Denmark) descended from heaven.
Here these monks...

From the garden you can see the "Lower Town", the Niguliste church and the medieval buildings.

Not only tourists, but also the seagull admire the city...

On the north side of the garden there is a part of the fortress wall with towers:
Maiden's Tower, Kiek in de Kok Tower, Tallitorn (Stable Tower).

The Danish King's Garden is large enough, there is even a museum, which is located in the Maiden's Tower.
You can walk from the garden to the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral...

A beautiful green lawn on the hillside of Toompea, between the Palace Square and the fortress wall, is part of the Komendantsky garden.

You can go down the path along the fortress wall...

And you will be near the Kik-In-De-Kyok Tower.

We hurry to the "Lower Town", so we leave the Danish King's Garden and Toompea along the familiar Luhike Jalg Street.

We went down the stairs...

That's the "Lower Town"...