A very comprehensive review of my hometown, i loved it! You mentioned a lot of gems in the old town but forgot one, perhaps equally important and interesting tidbit, which is the "Rae Pharmacy" just opposite of the town hall, which just happens to be the oldest continuously running business/apothecary in the world. Opened in the early 15th century and still working today.
The "still working today" bit is a bit debatable as it is the worst pharmacy really. Almost nothing is available there should you happen to look for something specifically. Only perhaps the most basic medication like the common painkillers etc. I have never been able to buy anything that i have been prescribed. So as a modern pharmacy they are not that good.
@user-zy1vp2sw9c I mean, it is still open and still sells pharmaceuticals, so i don't see what's debatable. I've gotten what i need from there on the rare occasions i needed something. Even if it doesn't have every prescription drug in stock, doesn't mean it's not operational. Also, a useful lifehack for Estonia is that prescription drugs are specific and if you want to pick up yours specifically at a specific location, you can ask either your family doctor or call the pharmacy ahead and ask them to ship your prescription to your preferred pharmacy.
We were there end of June 2018 but did not see much of the market stalls shown in this video. Tallinn, just like Riga, is a very beautiful and quaint city. A must in your bucket list. Thanks for sharing!
Lovely video, I discovered a few new spots :) I'd also recommend to explore Tallinn beyond Old Town. The parks, the forests, the seaside are all very beautiful.
I also recommend visiting Tallinn old town in the dark. the lighting system has been created so that it highlights different layers in building stages. Plus it just looks more magical in the dark.
I am glad you mentioned Tallinn city theatre. Since theatres are probably one of the most estonian thing, I will say a few words. They all operate in Estonian, of course, but i would still recommend them to tourists as well. Just to experience that side of estonia. You will not really know estonia unless you have ben to a theatre here. And of course you can always go to the opera and Ballet theatre, no language gap there.) Tallinn City Theatre is my favourite and considered to be the best in Estonia (a matter of taste but it IS always sold out, people buy tickets six months ahead of time). It was founded with a group that all graduated the theatre academy (also on Toompea) in the same year. Our most beloved actors and actresses work there and it is a very courageous theatre taking up material that is a bit risky. In the Soviet occupation they staged a lot of patriotic stuff (not patriotic in a military style, but a poetic, quiet style) and got away with it because they were too good of a theatre to be censored, it would have met with too much resistance from the people. Today, the theatre has the courage to stage very long plays (5 hours), demanding material based on not the easiest of world literature. But they do everything in a way that is easy to watch. Now their building on Pikk street in Old town is going through major reconstructions and they have moved to another place for a few years, into another atmospheric place, this time with cute old wooden houses. They have been asking for a proper theatre hall that would take more than 70 people. Their biggest appeal was the fact they they are in this 14th century merchant building (that you showed in your video as well). It had many stages but they all were small, with seats up to 70 or the 100 people at most. They have promised to keep all that so as not to lose the intimacy. Their building had no stage, everything was on the same level and very close to the audience. So that fact and the fact that they were in a mediaeval house was a part of their appeal. They own a few buildings next to each other and a courtyard. Now they are turning the courtyard into a big hall, with glass ceiling and walls. And they are building a big underground hall as well. I hope all that will not ruin the atmosphere of a gothic merchant house. They are keeping all the old rooms and halls as well and continue to stage plays there. But it is the general atmosphere that i am worried about. But I completely recommend that theatre. Also for tourists even though the plays are in Estonian. But the building is worth experiencing. It has been planned in Tallinn for the last half century and now they are planning to be ready in the Spring of 2025, the last i heard. If anyone is interested, keep an eye on their webpage (linnateater.ee), you can have the web page in English as well. For us, theatre is what church is to other nationalities. In Tallinn alone we have 8 big, state or municipal theatres (that means that the funding mostly comes from taxpayers, it does not mean state interference. it also means that these theatres provide permanent fulltime work and social guarantees like payed vacation for one month a year and medical insurance) for its actors, directors, script writers etc.) Not to mention tens of smaller private theatres that are more project based with less public funding. For a city of 400 000 it is quite remarkable. In summer all of the regular theatres are closed and plays are taken to forests, swamps, mansions, old farm houses (like the home of our "Shakespeare" Tammsaare, the author of "Truth and Justice": 5 novels, also translated into English). The state sets maximum prices for theatre tickets so that keeps the prices reasonable so that most people can afford it regularly
About climbing up to Toompea: I have a suggestion for those who do not like climbing, like me. Approach from the Freedom square. Go past the glass Freeom monument, on the right side. Just a bit uphill, then there will be rose garden there were you can walk normally for a while. Go towards the Russian monster church,,up the stairs. That way, there is much less climbing, very gradual and easy.
Wow, a very well preserved old town. I really love all of the attractive architecture abound. So very beautiful is this city for sure. I am seriously thinking of visiting some day in the near future, as I found out via my DNA test, that I have a genetic link to this global region. Who'd ever have known this if it weren't for DNA sequencing. Thanks for visiting & sharing with we curious viewers. Peace✌
The Brotherhood of Black Heads is most well known for (wait for it).... introducing the tradition of public Christmas Trees. Yes, it was in Tallinn Town Square that they decided to annually display a Christmas Tree so that everybody could enjoy the spirit of holidays. Later on, Riga copied the tradition, added some decorations to the tree and now shamelessly markets itself incorrectly as the birthplace of the Christmas Tree. The tradition of bringing Christmas Trees inside the houses privately in Estonia is ancient, predating Christianity. As the accessibility to forest trees in the growing city were diminishing, the public display was the solution. And if you ask me - there is no better decoration to a Christmas Tree than freshly fallen snow. Come visit Tallinn in December if you want to experience that.
Estonia was an independent state from 1918-1940. And again from 1992. So we have been independent for 30 years in the 20th century. And legally, the Estonian republic is 106 years old, declared in 1918, from the balcony of a theatre in Pärnu, a cute seaside town, on the eve of Feb 24. And we never stopped being that republic, not even during the soviet occupation. The Lower town was for the merchants, mainly Germans. Also common people because the law stated that once a person has lived in the town for a year and a day, and there are no major complaints against him, he is a free person and has protection of the city. That meant that they could not be claimed back by their former lords, as long as they remained in the city. But the Lower town was administered but the merchants still. The common Estonians had no real power. Th upper town belonged to the Germanic military orders (I will not get into this topic), Lübeck law that ruled the Lower city did not apply to them. Basically they were the German lords (later rather to be called Baltic Germans) who lived in their rural mansions most of the year, made their profits there and came to live to the Upper Town in winter to be closer to each other so that they could be social. The bureaucrats still mainly were in the Lower town, the Town magistrates. The Lower town is considered the mediaeval version of a democracy as they were the free merchants who ruled the city. So it was not based on your blood but rather your money and that already meant more social mobility. At 9pm the gates between Upper and Lower town were closed every night. They were considered two different towns who did not get along. So there is a wall between them as well, not just around Tallinn. The Upper town has the Toompea castle that hosts the flag of who is in power. So far, it has been the Estonian blue-black-and-white flag already for about half a century, counting also the time between 1918-1940. It is taken down every sunset with the nation anthem and raised at sunrise. It stays for the night only on Midsummer eve because there basically is no night there. The same applies for all other Estonian flag but unfortunately people are too lazy to follow the sunset-sunrise tradition and just hoist it and take it down.. when ever.
One more suggestion: do not just follow other tourists, from one tourist trap to another. That way you will miss most things and see almost nothing really. Do your homework, think about what you want to see and experience and do that. Because most places worth seeing are a bit hidden, you must know to look for them. I would just avoid the main streets completely. Also, go for at least one quiet walk at night. For the lighting you can only see in the dark that I already mentioned. And just to get the feeling of the city, without all the tourists and the screaming teenagers. Best to do it completely on your own, alone. Take some hot coffee with you so you will not be drawn to another MacDonalds for a drink.
Better not to feed the seagulls with crap food. If you really want to feed them, give them something that is actually food for them. The saddest thing I have seen was a seagull eat mayonnaise from a MacDonald trashbin outside. In Riga. In Tallinn they have not resorted to such measures yet, I guess Estonia provides a better environment for birds as well. Mayonnaise, for god's sake
About the Russian church in Upper town: Estonians hate it being there and it twice it came very close to be taken down and removed to another place. It just does not fit architecturally, in a Gothic Germanic town suddenly a new, with very little architectural value even, 1900 monster of an Orthodox church. It does not fit and it was built as a symbol of Russian domination. It is a fact, there are documents proving that. It really should not be there, it is so dominating and eats up the real actual Old Town. But it was not removed. I guess we had mercy on the people for whom it was a sacred place after all. even though Estonians are very unreligious people, we have respect for sacred places as such and we do not tend to destroy them. Would it be something else than a church, say, a Russian castle or whatever, it would not stand there today. Well, the Russians here would have an argument that in this case the pink classicists parliament building does not either. And, yes, it is true, it does not. But it is a relatively small building, it does not dominate all over the place. It is really sad to see tourists on the Toompea hill, photograph and have all the mental orgasms in front of it. And then leave Toompea, with not a moment given to the Dome church 100 meters deeper into Toompea or the rest of Toompea. They limit their visit to the most unEstonian, unTallinn, ungothic building. And like I said, there is nothing special about that orthodox church even. Very average. We haveloads of cute wooden orthodox churches in Estonia. Most of them in green places and in nature. They are very aesthetic and cute and nobody has a problem with them. So it is not about hating the "Russian religion". It is also against the law to build skyscrapers or glass shopping centres or anything out of place in areas of town that have atmospheric value. And that church goes against that law and that principle.
The people getting married here were definitely Russians. estonians do not get married like this. They do not wonder around town like homeless people on their wedding day. Estonians hire a place. Usually a mansion, if they can afford it, or something, usually out of town, something special. they will not go to walk around as if it was a bachelor party. But Russians do not have this connection to the country. They do not know what is where and what options lie around. So all they have imagination for is to go for a walk around town and take up all the space which is limited anyway due to all the tourists. kind of a mean comment, i get that. But I just could not help it. Jesus, you can walk around town any day. For you wedding, come up with something special. Something that actually is not an everyday thing. Plus, on my wedding, I would want some privacy. i do not want a wedding with all the strangers and tourists on my way and staring at me.
St Olaf is NOT a Lutheran church, unfortunately. It is a Baptist church. Which is sad because the Baptists have gotten rid of all the ritual in religion and everything looks like a business meeting in suits. Their priests wear suits. Why give them a Gothic church, of course Catholic at first, it all gets lost there. Most of the churches in Old town are widely used as concert places so anyone can just go and be there who feels no connection to religion (which is the biggest part of the Estonian society). But very few such concerts, meant for anyone, take place in St Olaf church. So, unless you are a Baptist, you have little business being there. Of course, nobody will ask who you are or throw you out. But as a Tallinner, I do not feel welcome there. So, it is not Lutheran.
When someone mentions the 99.8% literacy rate, it always makes me wonder who are these 0.2%. My math tells me it is 1300 people. How is that possible that we have 1300 illiterate people? I do not know any. School has been compulsory here for more than a century. And the first schools date back to 13th C. Who are these 1300 people who cannot read? Definitely not Estonians. Maybe some weird refugees from countries that have a high illiteracy rate
Get your accusations straight. I do not call it Scandinavia. Here is what I said: "It's the best-preserved town hall in the Baltic and Scandinavian states, dating back to 1402. " It is a Baltic state. I also said "It was part of the Hanseatic League, which was that northern and European medieval alliance, Germans, Scandinavians, merchant centers trading with the East and bringing goods on into Europe and being the middlemen and always taking a cut of the profits." Not calling it Scandinavia there either.
@@denniscallan Estonia is really not a part of anything. To call it Baltic would even be more wrong than to call it Scandinavian. It would be best not to try to put us into any box. We are a box of our own. We even speak the language that belongs to a language tree where very few languages have survived. And as literary and official languages, as far as I know, only three have survived.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
A very comprehensive review of my hometown, i loved it! You mentioned a lot of gems in the old town but forgot one, perhaps equally important and interesting tidbit, which is the "Rae Pharmacy" just opposite of the town hall, which just happens to be the oldest continuously running business/apothecary in the world. Opened in the early 15th century and still working today.
So nice to hear a local enjoying it, thanks! Yes, I saw the pharmacy and have mediocre pictures, which didn't make the final cut.
The "still working today" bit is a bit debatable as it is the worst pharmacy really. Almost nothing is available there should you happen to look for something specifically. Only perhaps the most basic medication like the common painkillers etc. I have never been able to buy anything that i have been prescribed. So as a modern pharmacy they are not that good.
@user-zy1vp2sw9c I mean, it is still open and still sells pharmaceuticals, so i don't see what's debatable. I've gotten what i need from there on the rare occasions i needed something. Even if it doesn't have every prescription drug in stock, doesn't mean it's not operational. Also, a useful lifehack for Estonia is that prescription drugs are specific and if you want to pick up yours specifically at a specific location, you can ask either your family doctor or call the pharmacy ahead and ask them to ship your prescription to your preferred pharmacy.
Wow very nice place. I will visit this place soon. Because I'll be working in Finland.
Another great video Dennis. A preservation wonder.
We were there end of June 2018 but did not see much of the market stalls shown in this video. Tallinn, just like Riga, is a very beautiful and quaint city. A must in your bucket list. Thanks for sharing!
Lovely video, I discovered a few new spots :) I'd also recommend to explore Tallinn beyond Old Town. The parks, the forests, the seaside are all very beautiful.
thank you for this excellent review of Tallinn
Well done . Dense and inspiring too.
Very nice video bro! 💚✨
Very nice video, greetings from Estonia.
Estonia looks beautiful. Thank you very much for the beautiful video denniscallan ❤
I also recommend visiting Tallinn old town in the dark. the lighting system has been created so that it highlights different layers in building stages. Plus it just looks more magical in the dark.
Great video!!!
Great video, thanks :)
Touching in.
Good show
Excellent.
What a thorough video! I'm glad you enjoyed your time here!
I am glad you mentioned Tallinn city theatre. Since theatres are probably one of the most estonian thing, I will say a few words. They all operate in Estonian, of course, but i would still recommend them to tourists as well. Just to experience that side of estonia. You will not really know estonia unless you have ben to a theatre here. And of course you can always go to the opera and Ballet theatre, no language gap there.)
Tallinn City Theatre is my favourite and considered to be the best in Estonia (a matter of taste but it IS always sold out, people buy tickets six months ahead of time). It was founded with a group that all graduated the theatre academy (also on Toompea) in the same year. Our most beloved actors and actresses work there and it is a very courageous theatre taking up material that is a bit risky. In the Soviet occupation they staged a lot of patriotic stuff (not patriotic in a military style, but a poetic, quiet style) and got away with it because they were too good of a theatre to be censored, it would have met with too much resistance from the people. Today, the theatre has the courage to stage very long plays (5 hours), demanding material based on not the easiest of world literature. But they do everything in a way that is easy to watch. Now their building on Pikk street in Old town is going through major reconstructions and they have moved to another place for a few years, into another atmospheric place, this time with cute old wooden houses. They have been asking for a proper theatre hall that would take more than 70 people. Their biggest appeal was the fact they they are in this 14th century merchant building (that you showed in your video as well). It had many stages but they all were small, with seats up to 70 or the 100 people at most. They have promised to keep all that so as not to lose the intimacy. Their building had no stage, everything was on the same level and very close to the audience. So that fact and the fact that they were in a mediaeval house was a part of their appeal. They own a few buildings next to each other and a courtyard. Now they are turning the courtyard into a big hall, with glass ceiling and walls. And they are building a big underground hall as well. I hope all that will not ruin the atmosphere of a gothic merchant house. They are keeping all the old rooms and halls as well and continue to stage plays there. But it is the general atmosphere that i am worried about.
But I completely recommend that theatre. Also for tourists even though the plays are in Estonian. But the building is worth experiencing. It has been planned in Tallinn for the last half century and now they are planning to be ready in the Spring of 2025, the last i heard. If anyone is interested, keep an eye on their webpage (linnateater.ee), you can have the web page in English as well.
For us, theatre is what church is to other nationalities. In Tallinn alone we have 8 big, state or municipal theatres (that means that the funding mostly comes from taxpayers, it does not mean state interference. it also means that these theatres provide permanent fulltime work and social guarantees like payed vacation for one month a year and medical insurance) for its actors, directors, script writers etc.) Not to mention tens of smaller private theatres that are more project based with less public funding. For a city of 400 000 it is quite remarkable.
In summer all of the regular theatres are closed and plays are taken to forests, swamps, mansions, old farm houses (like the home of our "Shakespeare" Tammsaare, the author of "Truth and Justice": 5 novels, also translated into English). The state sets maximum prices for theatre tickets so that keeps the prices reasonable so that most people can afford it regularly
About climbing up to Toompea: I have a suggestion for those who do not like climbing, like me. Approach from the Freedom square. Go past the glass Freeom monument, on the right side. Just a bit uphill, then there will be rose garden there were you can walk normally for a while. Go towards the Russian monster church,,up the stairs. That way, there is much less climbing, very gradual and easy.
Wow, a very well preserved old town. I really love all of the attractive architecture abound.
So very beautiful is this city for sure.
I am seriously thinking of visiting some day in the near future, as I found out via my DNA test, that I have a genetic link to this global region. Who'd ever have known this if it weren't for DNA sequencing.
Thanks for visiting & sharing with we curious viewers.
Peace✌
It isnt 90 minute ride, actually it is 2 hours. Some companies cross the gulf 2,5 hours,
The Brotherhood of Black Heads is most well known for (wait for it).... introducing the tradition of public Christmas Trees. Yes, it was in Tallinn Town Square that they decided to annually display a Christmas Tree so that everybody could enjoy the spirit of holidays. Later on, Riga copied the tradition, added some decorations to the tree and now shamelessly markets itself incorrectly as the birthplace of the Christmas Tree. The tradition of bringing Christmas Trees inside the houses privately in Estonia is ancient, predating Christianity. As the accessibility to forest trees in the growing city were diminishing, the public display was the solution. And if you ask me - there is no better decoration to a Christmas Tree than freshly fallen snow. Come visit Tallinn in December if you want to experience that.
Those damn Latvians are the worst aren't they. Must be all them slavic genes that their population is infested by,right?!
Estonia was an independent state from 1918-1940. And again from 1992. So we have been independent for 30 years in the 20th century. And legally, the Estonian republic is 106 years old, declared in 1918, from the balcony of a theatre in Pärnu, a cute seaside town, on the eve of Feb 24. And we never stopped being that republic, not even during the soviet occupation.
The Lower town was for the merchants, mainly Germans. Also common people because the law stated that once a person has lived in the town for a year and a day, and there are no major complaints against him, he is a free person and has protection of the city. That meant that they could not be claimed back by their former lords, as long as they remained in the city. But the Lower town was administered but the merchants still. The common Estonians had no real power. Th upper town belonged to the Germanic military orders (I will not get into this topic), Lübeck law that ruled the Lower city did not apply to them. Basically they were the German lords (later rather to be called Baltic Germans) who lived in their rural mansions most of the year, made their profits there and came to live to the Upper Town in winter to be closer to each other so that they could be social.
The bureaucrats still mainly were in the Lower town, the Town magistrates.
The Lower town is considered the mediaeval version of a democracy as they were the free merchants who ruled the city. So it was not based on your blood but rather your money and that already meant more social mobility.
At 9pm the gates between Upper and Lower town were closed every night. They were considered two different towns who did not get along. So there is a wall between them as well, not just around Tallinn.
The Upper town has the Toompea castle that hosts the flag of who is in power. So far, it has been the Estonian blue-black-and-white flag already for about half a century, counting also the time between 1918-1940. It is taken down every sunset with the nation anthem and raised at sunrise. It stays for the night only on Midsummer eve because there basically is no night there. The same applies for all other Estonian flag but unfortunately people are too lazy to follow the sunset-sunrise tradition and just hoist it and take it down.. when ever.
Thank you for all your comments, which add a lot to our understanding of Tallinn.
One more suggestion: do not just follow other tourists, from one tourist trap to another. That way you will miss most things and see almost nothing really. Do your homework, think about what you want to see and experience and do that. Because most places worth seeing are a bit hidden, you must know to look for them. I would just avoid the main streets completely.
Also, go for at least one quiet walk at night. For the lighting you can only see in the dark that I already mentioned. And just to get the feeling of the city, without all the tourists and the screaming teenagers. Best to do it completely on your own, alone. Take some hot coffee with you so you will not be drawn to another MacDonalds for a drink.
Better not to feed the seagulls with crap food. If you really want to feed them, give them something that is actually food for them. The saddest thing I have seen was a seagull eat mayonnaise from a MacDonald trashbin outside. In Riga. In Tallinn they have not resorted to such measures yet, I guess Estonia provides a better environment for birds as well. Mayonnaise, for god's sake
About the Russian church in Upper town: Estonians hate it being there and it twice it came very close to be taken down and removed to another place. It just does not fit architecturally, in a Gothic Germanic town suddenly a new, with very little architectural value even, 1900 monster of an Orthodox church. It does not fit and it was built as a symbol of Russian domination. It is a fact, there are documents proving that. It really should not be there, it is so dominating and eats up the real actual Old Town. But it was not removed. I guess we had mercy on the people for whom it was a sacred place after all. even though Estonians are very unreligious people, we have respect for sacred places as such and we do not tend to destroy them. Would it be something else than a church, say, a Russian castle or whatever, it would not stand there today.
Well, the Russians here would have an argument that in this case the pink classicists parliament building does not either. And, yes, it is true, it does not. But it is a relatively small building, it does not dominate all over the place.
It is really sad to see tourists on the Toompea hill, photograph and have all the mental orgasms in front of it. And then leave Toompea, with not a moment given to the Dome church 100 meters deeper into Toompea or the rest of Toompea. They limit their visit to the most unEstonian, unTallinn, ungothic building. And like I said, there is nothing special about that orthodox church even. Very average. We haveloads of cute wooden orthodox churches in Estonia. Most of them in green places and in nature. They are very aesthetic and cute and nobody has a problem with them. So it is not about hating the "Russian religion". It is also against the law to build skyscrapers or glass shopping centres or anything out of place in areas of town that have atmospheric value. And that church goes against that law and that principle.
The people getting married here were definitely Russians. estonians do not get married like this. They do not wonder around town like homeless people on their wedding day. Estonians hire a place. Usually a mansion, if they can afford it, or something, usually out of town, something special. they will not go to walk around as if it was a bachelor party. But Russians do not have this connection to the country. They do not know what is where and what options lie around. So all they have imagination for is to go for a walk around town and take up all the space which is limited anyway due to all the tourists.
kind of a mean comment, i get that. But I just could not help it. Jesus, you can walk around town any day. For you wedding, come up with something special. Something that actually is not an everyday thing. Plus, on my wedding, I would want some privacy. i do not want a wedding with all the strangers and tourists on my way and staring at me.
St Olaf is NOT a Lutheran church, unfortunately. It is a Baptist church. Which is sad because the Baptists have gotten rid of all the ritual in religion and everything looks like a business meeting in suits. Their priests wear suits. Why give them a Gothic church, of course Catholic at first, it all gets lost there. Most of the churches in Old town are widely used as concert places so anyone can just go and be there who feels no connection to religion (which is the biggest part of the Estonian society). But very few such concerts, meant for anyone, take place in St Olaf church. So, unless you are a Baptist, you have little business being there. Of course, nobody will ask who you are or throw you out. But as a Tallinner, I do not feel welcome there.
So, it is not Lutheran.
When someone mentions the 99.8% literacy rate, it always makes me wonder who are these 0.2%. My math tells me it is 1300 people. How is that possible that we have 1300 illiterate people? I do not know any. School has been compulsory here for more than a century. And the first schools date back to 13th C. Who are these 1300 people who cannot read? Definitely not Estonians. Maybe some weird refugees from countries that have a high illiteracy rate
Estonia has NEVER been, and will NEVER be, a part of Scandinavia. Get your facts straight.
Get your accusations straight. I do not call it Scandinavia. Here is what I said: "It's the best-preserved town hall in the Baltic and Scandinavian states, dating back to 1402. " It is a Baltic state. I also said "It was part of the Hanseatic League, which was that northern and European medieval alliance, Germans, Scandinavians, merchant centers trading with the East and bringing goods on into Europe and being the middlemen and always taking a cut of the profits." Not calling it Scandinavia there either.
How's your racial harmony and socialist solidarity working out for you back in the good old navia?
@@denniscallan Estonia is really not a part of anything. To call it Baltic would even be more wrong than to call it Scandinavian. It would be best not to try to put us into any box. We are a box of our own. We even speak the language that belongs to a language tree where very few languages have survived. And as literary and official languages, as far as I know, only three have survived.
🥰