Tartu Favorites

Favorite thing: On "Raekoja plats" (central square) -pointing to city hall- is web camera where you can wave for your wife / husband before you go one of several pubs.. :)

Here is one of several adresses where live picture is located:

Local weather

http://www.ilm.ee/tartu/?linn=tartu/

Favorite thing: Tartu atmosphere I liked more than in Tallinn. I loved to see here more locals than tourists. Most of people were spending time at cozy town hall square, drinking beer, and walking. Some of them were relaxing at Dome Hill Park, especially younger generation, listening music from cars and sitting on benches\grass. Everything looked quite relaxing, no hurry at all.

As I know, from September till late spring or July Tartu is more or less students’ city and you can feel how young people spend their time at city. This time I visited Tartu in summer, when most students were out of university.

Favorite thing: There are thousand sculptures in the internal and external walls of the construction. There is no other brick church decorated with so much terracotta plastic in Europe. There are fifteen figures in the triple arch niches of the fronton which represent Judgement Day. On the facade and two sides of the tower there are other figures since the tower's frieze consisting of quaternion foils with a human head continuing in each quaternor foil on the sides of the longitudinal building as well. There are friezes and niches decorated with sculptures in the interior as well. However, the western wall, with numerous niches with sculptures and pseudotriforium located above the arcades in the niches of which there are figures sitting on a throne.

Favorite thing: St Jan was probably built in the first third of the 14th century. The church was damaged in the Russian-Livonian War in the 16th century as well as in Northern War in 1708.
In the 30's of XX century the building was reconstructed in the classicistic style, the central nave got a coved vault ceiling, the windows were made larger, interior walls were replastered, niches with figures inside them were walled up, protruding parts of the figures of pillars were cut off.

Favorite thing: The sculpture and fountain "The Kissing Students" located at the Town Hall Square, has become a symbol of Tartu, erected in 1998, it was conceived by Mati Karmin. Well, it is the favorite places of students and tourists :-)

Favorite thing: Construction of the dome church dedicated to apostles St Peter and Paul probably began in the second half of the 13th century. In 1299, the choir part and the nave were in use.The high-rise choir hall with head pillars was completed in the current size only in 1470's. The west side of the dome with the large twin towers was also built in the second half of the 15th century. The Dome was destroyed during the Russian-Livonian war in XVII century. In 1806, the first architect of the university, J. W. Krause, had the choir part of the Dome Church rebuilt into a library.

Favorite thing: The Town Hall was planned by the town building chief of the time, Johann Heinrich Bartholomäus Walter from Rostock. On the first floor of the present Town Hall building were a jail and public scale hall, on the upper floors the town council. The corner stone was laid in 1782, and though the official opening was in 1786 the finishing work went on up through 1789.

Favorite thing: The River Emajogi moving through Tartu and there are 4 bridges in the centre.

Fondest memory: I liked the pedestrian bridge near the bus terminal and the market. The bridge built recently and it has very beautiful decoration in the end – the sailing-ship.