Architecture & monuments, Tallinn County

This is a strange, very large and fascinating monument situated on the picturesque Pirita tee coast road about 2 miles or so out of the town centre. The accompanying pointy obelisk is clearly visible from Dome Hill in the old town if you look east along the bay.

A huge '60s style angular concrete structure, it was built in honour of the soldiers who fought for the USSR in WWII. Obviously, the Estonian people care little for it but if you are out that way, it is really worth a visit.

You can combine it with a visit to the Olympic marina, Song Festival Grounds, Botannical Gardens and/or the TV Tower. If you go by bus, get off at the nearest stop and cross the dual carriageway (there is a zebra crossing). The entrance is barely visible from the road but is exactly opposite the crrossing.

Just outside the town on the intersection of the Pirita tee coast road and Narva mnt is the massive Song Festival grounds and its vast 'song bowl'.

The song bowl is a huge semi-circular dome shell, constructed of pinewood and steel which faces a steep terraced slope. During the song festival the stage can hold 30,000 singers with up to 300,000 people joining them on the slope. The design is all about acoustics, as you can appreciate when you see it.

Estonians love to sing and the massive song festival is held every four years. At this time, a symbolic flame is lit atop the 'lighthouse tower'. In the late 1980s, the event helped precipitate the so-called 'singing revolution', giving voice to the growing discontentment with Soviet rule.

Hobuveski
From the 14th-18th centuries this round house in the corner of Old Town was the site of a horse-powered mill.

Nowdays it’sa museum that displays a collection of artistic stonemasonry from the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque periods in Estonia.

The "Maiden Tower" was built in the 14th century. It suffered attacks numerous times in its history and has been rebuilt several times. In the Middle Ages as a prison for prostitutes whereas today, it is a cafe with a sweeping view over the Old Town.

Nearly two thirds of Tallinn`s medieval residental houses have been preserved. The best preserved examples are the Matkamaja (Raekoja plats 18), the Tallinn City Theatre (Linnateatri) building (Lai 23), and the buildings at Vana turg 6, Kuninga 1, Pikk 71, Lai 29, Lai 40, Vene 17 and 23, Rüütli 12, and Suur-Karja 8.

Medieval fortresses surround the city center and by the 16th century was said to be one of the most impenitrable in all of Northern Europe.

The only part of the wall that has survived is two km long but has 26 of the original towers.

Three of the towers are open to the public.

Tallinn Town Hall is the best preserved medieval town hall in Northern Europe. The Town Hall was first mentioned as early as 1322, when it appears to have been in its present site on the Town Hall square. It was reconstructed and given the external appearance we see today, however in 1402 -1404.

Town Hall Square has been a marketplace, fairground and meeting place for centuries. The square in front of the Town Hall functioned as marketplace even before the Town Hall itself was built. The square was used for celebrations, but also for executions.

This Monument was set up a monument to the memory for Russia warship went down with her crew at the the late 19th century. sculptured in 1902 by Amandus Adamson. and this monument is the famous place for commemorative Estonian wedding ceremony pictures point.

When I visit a city, I always pay attention to the architecture, because I think it can tell about the history and culture of the city. Architecture in Tallinn is beautiful..most of the buildings, churches and citizens' houses have been preserved in their original basic form. They have been built between the 11th and the 15th century.