tallinn town wall

Medieval fortifications

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

The fortified zone of the lower town in 1538

Town Wall today 1.9 km of the wall and 26 towers

still intact.

The Viru Gate

Megede Tower1373Hinse Meghe

→Mädchen tower →Virgin tower.

prison for prostitutes red monastery

Dwelling house, studio (Kristjan and Paul Raud), cafe.

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”.

Gdansk, Magdeburg

The Great Coast Gate

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

Later yearsLost military and fortification

value in late 1700sDemolishing due to technical,

practical and aesthetic reasons In the mid 19th century protest by Baltic German historians → first restoration startedLook at the wall from the

inside