Just fifty miles across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki lies the capital of Estonia, known today as Talinn. Chartered in 1248, the medieval old city of Talinn was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site due it being such a well-preserved example of medieval architecture.
To get here from Helsinki it couldn’t be easier. There are three ferry lines that make the two hour journey across the Gulf several times daily in both directions. It’s so easy that Finns use them as a way to buy cheap liquor in Estonia not to mention onboard (more in a minute).
We began our journey by boarding the 9:00 ferry to Talinn with thousands of our closest friends.
Once onboard and settled in we set sail for Talinn, and a quick two hours later arrived to taxi madness at the Talinn ferry terminal. A mere 10 minutes later we were dropped in the old city.
Everywhere you looked you saw history!
The lower town (the old city is built on and around a hill) preserves to a remarkable extent the medieval urban fabric of narrow winding streets, many of which retain their medieval names, and fine public buildings, including town wall, Town Hall, pharmacy, churches, monasteries, merchants’ and craftsmen’ guilds, and the domestic architecture of the merchants’ houses, which have survived to a remarkable degree. The distribution of building plots survives virtually intact from the 13th-14th centuries.
On our way to the historic Town Square we passed the old Viru Gate to the city.
Viru Gate was one of only eight entry points into the old city. We were fortunate to run into a small parade of costumed locals as it worked its’ way through the old city.
Shortly after we walked through the old Town Square, which is historic even today as this is where Estonia’s largest celebrations take place.
It is lined with shops and restaurants and mid-day was quite busy. We then began our ascent to the upper city known as Toompea.
Toompea today remains the administrative and parliamentary capital of Estonia. Foreign embassies are located throughout the upper town as is the Estonian government. Also up there is the beautiful Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.
The cathedral is Tallinn’s largest orthodox cupola church. It is dedicated to the grand Prince of Kyiv, and later saint, Alexander Nevsky who in 1242 won the Battle of the Ice near the present-day border between Estinia and Russia.
The cathedral was built during the period of late 19th century Russification and was disliked by many Estinians as a symbol of oppression. Estonian authorities scheduled the cathedral for demolition in 1924 but never carried out the plans due to logistics (it’s big!).
From there we wandered around outside the city walls.
Amazing that they have survived so long including through Soviet bombing during Word War II.
Our final stop before returning to Helsinki was to St Olaf’s Church.
Built in the 12th century it has been struck by lightning 10 times and burned to the ground three times.
For now it is still Talinn’s tallest building at nearly 400 feet, but it also was among the world’s tallest for several hundred years!
One last snap of old town before heading back to the port.
Our return ferry was scheduled at 4:30 so we headed back. These are really quite something.
Our return was on a different line that our morning ferry and this ship was larger and more modern.
Inside there was basically a shopping mall.
The amount of liquor being sold was astounding.
Because these are car ferries, Finns can just drive their cars onboard and fill them up!
If you look closely you can even see that there are special lanes for shoppers. And apparently Finnish customs is only interested if you plan to resell any of your booty. If it’s all for personal consumption it is tax free.
Two quick hours later we were back in Helsinki.
2 comments
Talin is such a cool old city. The ferry you took on your return is amazing – I’ve never seen a ferry like that!
And those people were carrying out CRATES of liquor right through customs without even breaking a stride
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