1.
Toompea
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Toompea is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of 7 hectares and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. In folklore the hill is known as the mound over the grave of Kalev. The history of Toompea is closely linked to the history of rulers, today Toompea is the center of the Government of Estonia and the Riigikogu, both of which are often simply referred to as Toompea. The location of the Riigikogu is the Toompea Castle, situated in the corner of the hill. The flag on the top of the tower is one of the symbols in Estonia of the government in force. Toompea is part of the Tallinn Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site, geologically Toompea is associated with the North Estonian Klint. A separate relic klint island, Toompea lies about 1.5 km northwest of the North Estonian Limestone Plateau, the plateau and Toompea are connected with a gently sloped sandstone ridge. From the east, north and west Toompea is bordered for 1.5 km by a cliff with a height of up to 25 m, the southern slope of the hill descends more gently. The upper layer of the consists of Ordovician limestone, which is also the main rock exposed at the cliff. However, most of the face has been hidden behind a protective wall. Toompea first emerged as an island from the Baltic Ice Lake around 10,000 years ago, due to steady post-glacial rebound it became connected with the mainland during the early Littorina Sea stage. At 5,000 BCE the sea reached the foot of the cliffs of Toompea. The modern coastline is at a distance of more than 1 km from Toompea, the hill reaches about 48 metres in elevation. She heaped a cairn of stones over his tomb, which formed the hill on which the Cathedral of Revel now stands. Kirby,1895 The first stronghold is believed to have built on the hill in either the 10th or 11th century by residents of the ancient Estonian county of Revala. The late Iron Age fortified settlement did not probably have permanent inhabitants, early archaeological evidence from the hill dates mainly to the second half of the 12th century and first half of the 13th century. Smaller amounts of older finds support the view that the stronghold might have been established already during the Viking Age, the hill fort is mentioned in the Henry of Livonias Chronicle of the Livonian Crusade by the name Lindanise
2.
Tallinn
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Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland,80 km south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm, from the 13th century until 1918, the city was known as Reval. Tallinn occupies an area of 159.2 km2 and has a population of 444,591, approximately 33% of Estonias total population lives in Tallinn. Tallinn was founded in 1248, but the earliest human settlements date back 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest capital cities of Northern Europe. The initial claim over the land was laid by the Danes in 1219 after a raid of Lyndanisse led by Valdemar II of Denmark. Due to its location, the city became a major trade hub, especially from the 14th to the 16th century. Tallinns Old Town is one of the best preserved cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tallinn is the political, financial, cultural and educational center of Estonia. Often dubbed the Silicon Valley of Europe, it has the highest number of startups per person in Europe and is a birthplace of international companies. The city is to house the headquarters of the European Unions IT agency, providing to the global cybersecurity it is the home to the NATO Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. It is ranked as a city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world. The city was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku in Finland and it has been suggested that Quwri may have denoted a predecessor of the modern city. The earliest names of Tallinn include Kolyvan, which is known from East Slavic chronicles, up to the 13th century, the Scandinavians and Henry of Livonia in his chronicle called the town Lindanisa (or Lyndanisse in Danish, Lindanäs in Swedish and Ledenets in Old East Slavic. It has been suggested that the archaic Estonian word linda is similar to the Votic word lidna. According to this suggestion, nisa would have the meaning niemi, producing Kesoniemi, another ancient historical name for Tallinn in Finnish is Rääveli. The Icelandic Njals saga mentions Tallinn and calls it Rafala, which is a variant of the name Raphael, after the Danish conquest in 1219, the town became known in the German, Swedish and Danish languages as Reval. The name originated from Revelia Revala or Rävala, the adjacent ancient name of the surrounding area and it is usually thought to be derived from Taani-linn, after the Danes built the castle in place of the Estonian stronghold at Lindanisse. However, it could also have come from tali-linna, or talu-linna, the element -linna, like Germanic -burg and Slavic -grad / -gorod, originally meant fortress, but is used as a suffix in the formation of town names
3.
Estonia
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Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia, across the Baltic Sea lies Sweden in the west and Finland in the north. The territory of Estonia consists of a mainland and 2,222 islands and islets in the Baltic Sea, covering 45,339 km2 of land and water, and is influenced by a humid continental climate. The territory of Estonia has been inhabited since at least 6500 BC, in 1988, during the Singing Revolution, the Estonian Supreme Soviet issued the Estonian Sovereignty Declaration in defiance of Soviet rule, and independence was restored on 20 August 1991. Estonia is a parliamentary republic divided into fifteen counties. Its capital and largest city is Tallinn, with a population of 1.3 million, it is one of the least-populous member states of the European Union, Eurozone, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, OECD and Schengen Area. Estonia is a country with an advanced, high-income economy that is among the fastest growing in the EU. Its Human Development Index ranks very highly, and it performs favourably in measurements of economic freedom, civil liberties, the 2015 PISA test places Estonian high school students 3rd in the world, behind Singapore and Japan. Citizens of Estonia are provided with health care, free education. Since independence the country has developed its IT sector, becoming one of the worlds most digitally advanced societies. In 2005 Estonia became the first nation to hold elections over the Internet, in the Estonian language, the oldest known endonym of the Estonians was maarahvas, meaning country people or people of the land. The land inhabited by Estonians was called Maavald meaning Country Parish or Land Parish, one hypothesis regarding the modern name of Estonia is that it originated from the Aesti, a people described by the Roman historian Tacitus in his Germania. The historic Aesti were allegedly Baltic people, whereas the modern Estonians are Finno-Ugric, the geographical areas between Aesti and Estonia do not match, with Aesti being further down south. Ancient Scandinavian sagas refer to a land called Eistland, as the country is called in Icelandic. Early Latin and other ancient versions of the name are Estia and Hestia, esthonia was a common alternative English spelling prior to 1921. Human settlement in Estonia became possible 13,000 to 11,000 years ago, the oldest known settlement in Estonia is the Pulli settlement, which was on the banks of the river Pärnu, near the town of Sindi, in south-western Estonia. According to radiocarbon dating it was settled around 11,000 years ago, the earliest human inhabitation during the Mesolithic period is connected to Kunda culture, which is named after the town of Kunda in northern Estonia. At that time the country was covered with forests, and people lived in communities near bodies of water
4.
Tallinn Bay
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The Tallinn Bay is a bay in Estonia on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland. The Estonian capital city Tallinn is located on the southern coast of the bay, Tallinn Bay itself is divided into several parts, Tallinn Bay minor, Kopli Bay, Kakumäe bay and Paljassaare Bay. The islands Naissaar and Aegna border the bay in the north, the shore waters are shallow but deep rapidly. Tallinn Bay has a slope, which allows for good water exchange with the waters of the Gulf of Finland. Tallinn Bay is one of the deepest bays in Estonia, max depth is about 100 m, the Old Town is situated close to the sheltered Tallinn bay, which is a natural harbour and the main passenger port. The Paljassaare Harbor and the Bekker Harbor by the Kopli Bay serve for cargo traffic, there are four public beaches on the coastline, Pirita, Stroomi, Kakumäe and Pikakari. Bungsberg, ship Copterline Flight 103 Estonian Maritime Museum Charles Leroux Olympic Yachting Centre in Pirita
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Pirita
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Pirita is one of the eight administrative districts of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. Pirita occupies a big area, but compared to other districts of Tallinn its population of 16,636 is relatively small. It mostly consists of houses, instead of the large blocks of flats typical of some other districts of Tallinn. Large parts of the district consist of newly built, modern buildings, Pirita beach is located in Pirita. Pirita is one of the most prestigious and wealthiest districts of Tallinn, partly thanks to natural benefits such as its beach, Pirita beach is the largest in Tallinn, and in the summer can attract up to 30,000 visitors a day. Pirita has a population of 17,592, Pirita is divided into 9 subdistricts, Iru, Kloostrimetsa, Kose, Laiaküla, Lepiku, Maarjamäe, Merivälja, Mähe and Pirita. Pirita monastery Tallinn TV Tower Tallinn Botanic Garden Pirita Yachting Centre Pirita Beach Metsakalmistu cemetery Pärnamäe cemetery Pirita Velodrome Official website
6.
Tallinn Passenger Port
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The Tallinn Passenger Port or the Old City Harbour is the main passenger harbour in Tallinn, Estonia. Regular lines serve routes to Helsinki, Stockholm and St. Petersburg, Old City Harbour is one of the five ports within the state-owned company Port of Tallinn. It is one of the biggest and busiest passenger harbours in the Baltic region, the port operates three passenger terminals, total length of its berths is 4.2 kilometres. Vessels with maximum length of 340 metres,42 metres wide, in 2015, the port served 9,79 million passengers. The port is operating 339-metre long quay intended for cruise ships and it was completed in spring of year 2004 and its cost at the time was over 80 million kroons. The number of the passengers is increasing steadily, also by the implementing of turnarounds in cooperation with Tallinn Airport. The total length of the built by the Estonian branch of BMGS is 421 metres. With the new quay, the Port of Tallinn is able to cruise ships up to 340 metres in length, up to 42 metres in width. The total cost of the project was 9.34 million euros, also Old City Marina - a new marina for recreational vessels established in 2010 - is a part of Tallinns Old City Harbour. Baltic Sea cruiseferries Transport in Estonia Old City Harbour web page Passenger ship schedule Map of harbour area Ships in Port
7.
Kalevi Keskstaadion
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Kalevi Keskstaadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Tallinn, Estonia. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the stadium of Kalev Tallinn. The stadium holds 12,000 and was built in 1956, the address of the stadium is Staadioni 8,10132 Tallinn
8.
Helsinki
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Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Helsinki has a population of 629,512, a population of 1,231,595. Helsinki is located some 80 kilometres north of Tallinn, Estonia,400 km east of Stockholm, Sweden, Helsinki has close historical connections with these three cities. The Helsinki metropolitan area includes the core of Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen. It is the worlds northernmost metro area of one million people. The Helsinki metropolitan area is the fourth largest metropolitan area in the Nordic countries, Helsinki is Finlands major political, educational, financial, cultural, and research center as well as one of northern Europes major cities. Approximately 75% of foreign companies operating in Finland have settled in the Helsinki region, the nearby municipality of Vantaa is the location of Helsinki Airport, with frequent service to various destinations in Europe and Asia. In 2009, Helsinki was chosen to be the World Design Capital for 2012 by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design, the city was the venue for the 1952 Summer Olympics and the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest 2007. In 2011, the Monocle magazine ranked Helsinki the most liveable city in the world in its Liveable Cities Index 2011, in the Economist Intelligence Units August 2015 Liveability survey, assessing the best and worst cities to live in globally, Helsinki placed among the worlds top ten cities. Helsinki is used to refer to the city in most languages, the Swedish name Helsingfors is the original official name of the city. The Finnish name probably comes from Helsinga and similar names used for the river that is known as the Vantaa River. Helsingfors comes from the name of the parish, Helsinge and the rapids, which flowed through the original village. As part of the Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire, one suggestion for the origin of the name Helsinge is that it originated with medieval Swedish settlers who came from Hälsingland in Sweden. Others have proposed that the name derives from the Swedish word helsing, other Scandinavian cities located at similar geographic locations were given similar names at the time, for example Helsingør and Helsingborg. The name Helsinki has been used in Finnish official documents and in Finnish language newspapers since 1819, the decrees issued in Helsinki were dated with Helsinki as the place of issue. This is how the form Helsinki came to be used in written Finnish, in Helsinki slang the city is called Stadi. Hesa, is not used by natives to the city, helsset is the Northern Sami name of Helsinki
9.
Kadriorg Palace
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Kadriorg Palace is a Petrine Baroque palace built for Catherine I of Russia by Peter the Great in Tallinn, Estonia. Both the Estonian and the German name for the palace means Catherines valley and it was built after the Great Northern War to Nicola Michettis designs by Gaetano Chiaveri and Mikhail Zemtsov. The palace currently houses the Kadriorg Art Museum, a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia, the KUMU branch of the museum, showing Estonian art from the 18th century onwards is furthermore situated in the park. The house today is the result of a drastic renovation ordered by Nicholas I of Russia in 1827, however, plans for a larger palace in the area soon developed and construction of a new palace, Kadriorg, was started on 25 July 1718. Peter and Catherine visited the residence on several occasions. The great hall with Catherines initials and profuse stucco decor survives, the gardener Ilya Surmin was responsible for the flower garden with two fountains and the so-called mirage garden on several levels. The layout of the park shares similarities with that of Strelna, after the death of Peter the Great, the palace received little attention from the Russian royal family. It was sporadically visited, by the empress Elisabeth and Catherine the Great, in 1828-1830 extensive restoration works of the palace and grounds took place. Between 1741 and 1917, the palace housed the civilian governor of the Governorate of Estonia. After the declaration of independence of Estonia in 1919, the palace became state property, for a time, one of the wings housed the studio of sculptor August Weizenberg while the palace was used for art exhibitions. From this era, the library in elaborate so-called Danzig baroque style, a purpose-built presidential palace on the grounds was designed by Alar Kotli. The palace became the site for the Art Museum of Estonia in 1921. The museum was re-housed in temporary locations from 1929 while the palace was being converted into the Estonian presidents residence, during the German occupation of Estonia during World War II, the palace was the residence of the civilian governor of occupied Estonia, Karl-Siegmund Litzmann. Restoration works, supported by the government of Sweden, began in 1991 and it was also decided that a new building would be established nearby for the section of the museum devoted to Estonian art. From 1993 until 2005 a part of the collection could be visited at the Estonian Knighthood House in Tallinn’s city centre. The restored palace was reopened in the summer of 2000, but it no longer serves as the building of the museum. Culture of Estonia List of palaces and manor houses in Estonia Media related to Kadriorg palace at Wikimedia Commons Kadriorg virtual tour
