Tallinn Old Town
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Tallinn Old Town is the oldest part of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe, with walls, towers and cobbled lanes that still follow a plan from the 13th century. It covers about 113 hectares and is surrounded by the old Walls of Tallinn.
See it on the 3D globe →At a glance
- Country
- Estonia
- Location
- Tallinn, Estonia
- Built
- 13th c.
- Type
- Historic district
Quick answers
Where is Tallinn Old Town?
Tallinn Old Town is in Tallinn, Estonia.
A superbly preserved medieval Hanseatic old town of walls, towers and cobbled lanes.
In the Middle Ages Tallinn was a trading town of the Hanseatic League, a network of merchant towns around the Baltic and North Seas. Most of the buildings in the Old Town were built between the 13th and 16th centuries. UNESCO added the area to the World Heritage List in 1997 because its medieval and Hanseatic structure has survived so completely.
A town that kept its shape
The Old Town keeps its medieval layout almost completely intact. The streets, the town walls and the groups of merchants' houses show how a northern European trading port was built long ago. UNESCO also protects a much larger buffer zone, about 2,253 hectares, around the Old Town, so that new buildings nearby do not spoil the view. For a visitor, walking here feels like stepping into a story book about knights and traders.
What happened in the war?
The Old Town was not unharmed. During the Second World War, while German forces occupied Estonia from 1941 to 1944, Soviet planes bombed Tallinn several times. The worst raid came on 9 and 10 March 1944, when over a thousand incendiary bombs started widespread fires. About 10 percent of the Old Town's buildings were destroyed, hundreds of people died and more than 20,000 were left without shelter. Even so, most of the medieval town survived.
Fun facts
- The street plan is largely from the 13th century.
- The Old Town has only about 113 hectares, but a protected zone of 2,253 hectares around it.
- Roughly 10 percent of its buildings were destroyed in a 1944 bombing.
On the globe
The model shows a walled medieval town with towers and narrow lanes. Look for the round stone towers along the wall.
Nearby on the globe
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Sources
Updated: 2026-10-14