TOOMPEA CASTLE (TOOMPEA LOSS)

A symbol of power in Estonia, this castle has evolved many times since its creation around the ^13th century, first hosting Danish power from 1219 to 1227. Every empire that has dominated the country has used the castle as its base! In 1227, the order of the Knights Porte-Glaive, which later became the Livonian Order, took up residence here. Their aim: to Christianize the then pagan Baltic states. In 1238, the Danes regained the castle for almost a century. The castle then passed successively into the hands of the Livonian Order, the Swedes and the Russians. In 1767-1773, a late-Baroque castle was built on the foundations of the city wall, housing the Russian territorial administration until 1918, when Estonia became an independent country for the first time.

Today, the upper town castle houses the Estonian Parliament, and the Estonian flag flies at the top of the Long Hermann tower, the tallest of the corner towers. Behind this tower lies the hill and the statue of Linda, widow of the hero Kalev, to whom Toompea owes its existence, if legend is to be believed. The Neitsitorn tower, now a bar, was a prison for prostitutes in the Middle Ages. In 1959, a bust of Johanne Lauristin, the great national writer, was installed opposite the castle entrance.
Be warned, however, if you call it a château, it's not really one. Its pink façade is more reminiscent of a Baroque palace.