Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn, World Heritage Site in Estonia

Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is a town facing the Baltic Sea; the town’s origins date back to the 13th century when a castle was built by German knights. In the Middle Ages, the city prospered through trade as a city of the Hanseatic League, and in the old town, despite repeated fires and wars, various buildings were constructed, including a German trading house, a church, and a city hall, which still remain today.

Here, a World Heritage enthusiast explains in simple terms why the Historic Centre of Tallinn is a World Heritage Site.Read this and you will definitely learn more about Tallinn!

What is the Historic Center(Old Town) of Tallinn? Explaining the Old Town, Famous for its Towers

Tallinn, the capital city in northern Lithuania, is located on the Baltic Sea coast and is known for its well-preserved old town.The town was built on and around a limestone hill and was a prosperous trading city of the Hanseatic League in the 13th-16th centuries.

The town was divided into two areas. On the hilltop was the castle and cathedral, the administrative center called Toompea. And the lower town, which spread out around it, was an area of winding streets.The town still retains its original 13th- and 14th-century townscape, including the city walls, town hall, pharmacy, church, monastery, and gilt pavilion.It is very well preserved, and the structure of a Nordic trading town can still be seen today.

Tallinn was the setting for Studio Ghibli’s “Kiki’s Delivery Service”?

Travel guidebooks and travel websites often report that Studio Ghibli’s “The Witch’s Delivery Service” was modeled on Tallinn, but this is actually incorrect.

Kiki, an apprentice wizard, lives in a fictional town called Koriko, and although Studio Ghibli’s official website describes the town as being heavily based on “the town of Visby on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea, Stockholm, Sweden,” there is no mention of Tallinn in particular. However, there is no mention of Tallinn in particular. Nevertheless, it is close to Scandinavia, and if you look at the old town from Toompea Hill, you will see a lovely red-roofed house, exactly like Koriko in “Kiki’s Delivery Service” so there is plenty of atmosphere.

Major heritage sites registered

Toompea Castle

The castle on the hill of Toompea; there was a wooden castle in the 11th century, but it was built as a fortress by the German knights in the 13th century.Since then, it has been repeatedly enlarged and remodeled, and since the end of the 20th century it has been used as a parliament building. The south tower is called the “tall Hermann（Pikk Hermann）” because of its height, and is a symbolic figure.

City Hall Square

The square in the center of the old town, centered around the 13th century City Hall. The City Hall is a Gothic-style construction and is the oldest city hall in the Baltic and Scandinavian peninsula.

Fat Margareta

Located on the north side of the old town, this large tower was used as a turret, completed in the 16th century, and has a diameter of about 25 meters. The name of the tower is not known for sure, as it was named after a woman named Margareta who lived there when it was used as a prison. It was destroyed and abandoned during the Russian Revolution, but was later rebuilt and is now used as a maritime museum.

Three Sisters

The three houses in a row on Pick Street, which runs north-south through the old town. The houses are so old that records show that they have been inhabited since the 14th century, and were remodeled in the Gothic Revival style in the 19th century. Today, it is an old house hotel, and its medieval atmosphere is very popular among travelers.

Kiek in de Kök

Located on the south side of the old town, the Kiek in de Köks a 38-meter-high tower, built in 1475 to defend the Toompea, the administrative district on the hill here. Kiek in de Kök” is Low German for “looking into the kitchen.

For what reason is the Historic Centre(Old Town) of Tallinn on the World Heritage List?

Tallinn was recognized for

Registration Criteria (ii)
The point is that the Hanseatic cities of the 13th to 16th centuries had a unique Christian culture that spread throughout northern Europe as a result of the exchange of various cultures, including German knights and monastic orders.

Registration Criteria (iv)
As a Hanseatic city, the town has the advantage of a beautifully harmonized architectural landscape of fortifications and fortified buildings.

World Heritage Mania Conclusions and Impressions

Tallinn’s former prosperity as a Hanseatic city brought in a variety of cultures. The city is valued for its unique Christian culture, including German knights and monasticism, which spread from Tallinn to Northern Europe.Another point is that the Old Town is a splendid collaboration of a trading city and a fortified city.

Incidentally, while I have pushed the Old Town so hard, today Tallinn is known as the “Silicon Valley of the Baltic Sea,” where the IT industry is thriving.In fact, it was in Tallinn that Skype was developed. It seems that Tallinn is a town that brings people together, both now and in the past.

*The content here is a discussion derived from research conducted by a World Heritage enthusiast.As for the data, interpretation differs depending on the media.