The Old Town of Tallinn (Tallinn) - Greek Team C

3.  In 1154, a town called Qlwn or Qalaven (which may be derivations
of Kalevan or Kolyvan) was put on the world map of the Almoravid by
the Arab cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, who described it as "a small town
like a large castle" among the towns of 'Astlanda'. It has been suggested that
Quwri may have denoted a predecessor of the modern city. The earliest names
of Tallinn include Kolyvan (Russian: Колывань), which is known from East
Slavic chronicles and which may have come from the Estonian mythical
hero Kalev.
 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. According to some poetical suggestions, this name
was derived from Linda, the mythical wife of Kalev and the mother of
Kalevipoeg, who in an Estonian legend carried rocks to her husband's grave,
which formed the Toompea hill. It has been also suggested that the archaic
Estonian word linda is similar to the Votic word lidna, meaning a castle or town.
According to this suggestion, nisa would have the meaning 'niemi' (or
'peninsula'), producing Kesoniemi, the old Finnish name for the city. Another
ancient historical name for Tallinn in Finnish is Rääveli. The Icelandic Njal's 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 (Latin: Revalia). The name
originated from (Latin) Revelia (Estonian) Revala or Rävala, the adjacent ancient
name of the surrounding area.

5.  Tallinn was founded in 1248, but the earliest human settlements
are over 5,000 years old, making it one of the oldest capital cities
of Northern Europe. Due to its strategic location, the city became a
major trade hub, especially from the 14th to the 16th century, when
it grew in importance as part of the Hanseatic League.
 Tallinn's Old Town is one of the best preserved medieval cities
in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tallinn
is the major 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 many international companies, including Skype.
 Providing to the global cyber-security it is the home to the NATO
Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. It is ranked as a global
city and has been listed among the top 10 dig for 2011, along
with Turku in Finland and other cities in the world. The city was
a European Capital of Culture.

7. The first traces of human settlement found in Tallinn's
city center by archeologists are about 5,000 years old.
The comb ceramic pottery found on the site dates to
about 3000 BC. Around 1050, the first fortress was built
on Tallinn.
As an important port for trade between Russia and
Scandinavia, it became a target for the expansion of
the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Denmark
during the period of Northern Crusades in the beginning
of the 13th century when Christianity was forcibly
imposed on the local population. Danish rule of Tallinn
and Northern Estonia started in 1219.

9. •In 1285, the city, then known as Reval,
became the northern most member of
the Hanseatic League – a mercantile and
military alliance of German-dominated
cities in Northern Europe. The Danes sold
Reval along with their other land
possessions in northern Estonia to
the Teutonic Knights in 1346.
•Medieval Reval enjoyed a strategic position at
the crossroads of trade between Western and
Northern Europe and Russia. The city, with a
population of 8,000, was very well fortified
with city walls and 66 defence towers.
•A weather vane, the figure of an old warrior
called Old Thomas, was put on top of the spire
of the Tallinn Town Hall in 1530 that became
the symbol for the city.

10. o With the start of the Protestant Reformation the German
influence became even stronger as the city was converted to
Lutheranism. In 1561, Reval politically became a dominion
of Sweden.
o During the Great Northern War, plague stricken Tallinn
along with Swedish Estonia and Livonia capitulated to
Imperial Russia in 1710, but the local self-government
institutions (Magistracy of Reval and Chivalry of Estonia)
retained their cultural and economical autonomy within
Imperial Russia as the Governorate of Estonia. The
Magistracy of Reval was abolished in 1889. The 19th century
brought industrialization of the city and the port kept its
importance. During the last decades of the century
Russification measures became stronger.

12. Stella-Athina Brakai
Thanos Dellios
Argyris Kontogiannis
Christina Delliou
Panagiotis Papadimitriou

13. Thank You!