Five Countries in Five Weeks – Cold Northern Europe: Talinn, Estonia

Taking the ferry from Helsinki to Talinn, Estonia was, of course, much shorter than the hours-long one from Stockholm to Turku, Finland, so we didn’t even bother with a room. We just sat at a table by one of the windows.

We entered this gate to the old town. Our hotel was fairly close. This was once the main entrance into town but now it is relatively quiet.

Our first view of the city from our ferry. The upper town is visible in the center of the photo.

The ferry trip was short and pleasant – except for the music, which was quite loud and grating. A Finnish rock group was making a train wreck of Hotel California. Added to that the vocalist and instrumentalists apparently couldn’t agree on a key.

Looking like so many stubby pencils, these towers guard west-facing old Town Wal

Supposedly the tallest building in the world from 1549 to 1625 the 12th-century St. Olaf’s Church, named after King Olaf II of Norway, is now a Baptist church.

Jeweled figurines in a Lower Town shop window

Town Hall Square. Town Hall on the right. Normally there would be a lot more tourists here, but it was still pretty cold this morning.

Colorful wooden door to the House of the Brotherhood of the Black Heads, also in the Lower Town. The Brotherhood of Black Heads was originally a military unit that helped in the defense of the city. It was also an association of Hanseatic guilds of various trades and crafts. Later the military aspect faded into the background, especially after the Soviets overran the city. But it is still an important social organization.

The door was painted in the early 1640’s but the building itself is much older.

Who are the Black Heads? They are named after their patron saint, the Egyptian Saint Maurice. You can see his portrait over the door. This is not the only Black Heads building. We later came across an even more impressive building of that name in Riga, Latvia. (More on that in a later article).

The imposing Toompea Castle protected the upper town for many centuries. The tower to the right is Pikk Hermann. Danes, Germans, Swedes, and Russians all had the eyes on this important trade crossroad of Talinn. The Estonians (then called Livonians, along with a good part of what is now Latvia) won many defensive battles against the Russians and others. But they were finally overcome in 1721 by the Russians. Livonia then became part of the burgeoning Russian Empire. The castle grounds now includes the Estonian Parliament.

Across the road from the Parliament is the Russian Orthodox St. Nevsky Church. It has a beautiful interior of gold paintings and and intricate woodwork. Like in many orthodox churches, they must be admired standing up, seats being scarce.

Looking northward at the Lower Town from the Patkuli viewing platform.

My impression is that there are three parts to this city: the tourist-friendly Old Town, Upper and Lower. Then there is the modern high-tech business district (pictures below). And lastly, pictured here, is the “normal” city of middle to low income people. Neither touristy nor glistening. In fact, in many places, somewhat run down.

But the people are interesting. I am always interested in the ethnicities of a place. The three largest groups in Talinn are:
Estonians 233,518 53.34%
Russians 149,878 34.23%
Ukrainians 15,449 3.53%
(From 2022, Wikipedia)

Walking on our way to the bus station on our last morning we went through a very modern section of the city

“Tallinn has the highest number of startup companies per person among all capitals and larger cities in Europe and is the birthplace of many international high-technology companies, including Skype, Wise and Bolt.” – from Wikipedia

Seegi Church, now closed. One Estonian local spoke of this church being in a neighborhood of “cloud climbers” (Google translate from the Estonian. Apparently their word for skyscraper!)

On our way down to Riga, Latvia. Once again I get to take a few pictures of the local countryside.

Before we leave this article I should mention a favorite candy of ours – Marzipan. We found this in all three of the Baltic countries. This photo is actually from Riga but it should be here since Talinn, along with Lubeck, Germany, has a longstanding connection with this candy. Both Hanseatic cities had their own version of the candy at about the same time.
Did I say “candy“? Marzipan (“March Bread“) was first considered a medicine, known as “Panis Martius“. It also appeared in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet“. A servant at work in Capulet’s house says:

“Away with the joint-stools, remove the
court-cupboard, look to the plate. Good thou, save
me a piece of marchpane;”

Next: Riga, Latvia