Town Wall
By
the 16th century, Tallinn’s defense system was one of the most
powerful in Northern Europe.
Medieval fortresses, which emerged during the development of the medieval
town at the end of the 13th century, surrounded the city centre as a
closed defense zone. By the 16th century, Tallinn’s defense system
was one of the most powerful in Northern Europe. The town wall was three
meters thick, sixteen meters high, and four kilometers long, completely
encircling the city with 46 defense towers. The portion of the wall
that has survived is two kilometers long, encompassing 26 of the original
towers. Three towers and a section of the town wall surrounding the
Old Town are open to the public – and can be visited by anyone
with a sense of adventure. From the corner of Suur-Kloostri and Vaike-Kloostri
streets you can climb up Nunna Tower, then cross through a defensive
passage to Sauna Tower and onward to Kuldjala Tower.
Kiek in de Kok
Kiek
in de Kok was the most powerful cannon tower in 16th-century Northern
Europe. It is written in the chronicles that Kiek in de Kok was once
the most powerful tower along the Baltic shores. The round cannon tower,
built in the latter part of the 15th century, had a diameter of 17 meters.
Its height is 38 meters and its walls are 4 meters thick. The tower
was just high enough that its guards had a view into the kitchens of
neighbouring buildings. Of course the view also extended to the enemy’s
rear. The tower’s name, "peek in the kitchen", comes
from its height.
Kiek in de Kok, situated on the slope of Toompea Hill, is the most powerful
defense tower in the Baltic region. Today the tower holds a permanent
exhibit on the emergence of Tallinn , on three floors, tells the story
of the birth and development of Tallinn and the most important military
events from the 13th to the 18th centuries. The external wall still
holds stone and iron cannonballs from Russian tsar Ivan IV.
ESTONIA
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