Tartu Things to Do

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For tourists, Tartu’s main draw is the hill of Toomemagi and the historic buildings between the hill and the Emajogi River. Social life is centered around Raejoka Plats, with many of the city’s best restaurants on nearby Ruutli street. The area is small enough to be explored on foot in a few hours, not including obligatory beer and food stops.

Near of Bothanical Garden you can find the little area of the old fortification. It is a part of the wall, maybe 20 meters long. It looks quite restorated. Maybe somewhere there is another part of the wall but in the guidemap I had the wall was showned on this place only.

The observatory, designed by university architect J.W. Krause, was built at the beginning of the 19th century. In the years 1820-1839 the director of the observatory was astronomer F.W. Struve, who acquired for the observatory the largest available Frauhofer refractor and published a general catalogue of binary stars.

Red-brick Roman Catholic church was built in the middle of XIX century by architect Wilhelm Scilling. I wasn't inside but the guidebooks say there is very beautiful altar by Ernst Friedrich von Liphardt by 1905. The main altar was placed in the church 1904.

Turu Bridge, or The Market Bridge, was completed in 2003. I read in the guidebooks that in the same year the bridge was voted as the „act of the year” by the citizens of Tartu. It is situated near of bus station of the town.

It's only a fountain, but one of the most beautiful I know: The "Kissing Students", built in 1999, in front of Tartu's townhall. This fountain is the best meeting point in the town centre, and also a great place to hang out. Moreover, it is probably the picture taken most often: Every second tourist tries to imitate the behaviour of the statue in the middle of the fountain. Try it for yourself!

Tartu is a small town, so basically all the sights are within walking distance of the center. Thus, I will describe some pleasant walks through the town in here. A good starting point for all of them is Raekoja Plats, the Town Hall Square.
It is also a great place to hang out: In summer, cafes place their tables outside and you can enjoy a coffee there and watch the passers-by. The fountain (Suudlevad Tudengid) is probably the best meeting place in Tartu.

The second house on the right side of Raekoja Plats is sort of a curiosity: It looks as though it was about to fall down! The reason for this is that the ground on one side is not really stable so that one side of the house sinks lower and lower. An interesting detail is that while all the windows are also askew, but the door is not! Definitely an interesting motive for a photograph.
Btw, in the house is an art gallery which displays paintings and sometimes also video art.