1. Medieval fortifications

3. Tallinn Town Wall
 UNESCO World Heritage Site
 one of the most powerful defence
systems in Northern Europe
 Determined the area of the medieval
town (29,3 hectares)
 1265 – Margaret’s Wall
 1310-1355 Jens Kanne
 2,35 km long, 14 to 16 metres high,
up to 3 metres thick and included
46 towers and 8 gates.
 Surrounded by 2,25 km of deep moat with 7 bridges
across it
 Main building material – limestone - from town stone pit
at Lasnamäe – 30 master builders and masons → good
example of fortification architecture

4. The fortified zone of the lower
town in 1538

5. Town Wall today
1.9 km of the wall and 26 towers still
intact.

6. The Viru Gate

8. Megede Tower
 1373
 Hinse Meghe
→Mädchen tower
→Virgin tower.
 prison for prostitutes
red monastery
 Dwelling house, studio
(Kristjan and Paul
Raud), cafe.

9. Kiek in de Kök
 The most powerful
cannon tower in the Baltic
region
 1475-1483
 37 m in height, 17,3 in
diameter, walls ~ 4m thick
 30 embrasures for
cannons and and 27 for
handguns
 No roof
 “Peep into the kitchen”.

10. The Great Coast Gate

11. Fat Margareta
 Cannon tower, built from 1511 to 1530,
 diameter of 25 metres, a height of about 20
m, and walls up to 5 m thick.
 named after one of its larger
cannons or a cook called
Margaret who once worked
here.
 Legend about Tall Hermann
and Fat Margaret
 Storehouse, prison,
Estonian Maritime Museum

12. Later years
 Lost military and fortification value
in late 1700s
 Demolishing due to technical,
practical and aesthetic reasons
 In the mid 19th century protest
by Baltic German historians
→ first restoration started
 Look at the wall from the inside