Toompea Castle
Toompea Castle features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Tallinn. Give it roughly ~60 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type castle
- Suggested visit ~60 min
- Tallinn Tallinn guide
About Toompea Castle
The pink palace on Lossi plats fronts a fortress that has ruled Toompea since Danish crusaders climbed the hill, and now houses Estonia's parliament beneath the flag-flying Tall Hermann tower.
Toompea Castle crowns the limestone hill that has been Tallinn's seat of power since the Middle Ages. The site was fortified from at least the ninth century, and a stone castle rose after Danish crusaders under Valdemar II took the hill in 1219. The Brethren of the Sword, the Teutonic Order, Sweden and Russia each held it in turn, and the surviving fabric largely dates from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. Its tallest feature, the 48-metre Tall Hermann tower, flies the Estonian flag.
The castle's best-known face is the pink Baroque palace on Lossi plats, built during the reign of Catherine the Great in the 1770s and 1780s. Since 1922 the complex has housed the Riigikogu, Estonia's parliament, in a courtyard building often described as the world's only Expressionist parliament house. Today the castle serves as both the working seat of the legislature and a national symbol of Estonian statehood.
Did you know? Every day the Estonian flag is hoisted to the top of the 48-metre Tall Hermann tower at sunrise, to the national anthem, and lowered again at sunset, a daily ceremony of statehood.
How long is a visit to Toompea Castle?
Set aside roughly ~60 min for Toompea Castle. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Toompea Castle worth your time?
Toompea Castle is among the 21 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Tallinn, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Tallinn
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Toompea Castle and read more:
Day 2 of the Tallinn in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Toompea Castle
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