Toompea (from , "Cathedral Hill") is a hill in the central part of

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, the capital city of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. The hill has an area of and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. Toompea is part of the medieval

Tallinn Old Town Tallinn Old Town () is the oldest part of Tallinn, Estonia. Old Town of Tallinn has managed to wholly preserve its structure of medieval and Hanseatic origin. Old Town represents an exceptionally intact 13th century city plan. Since 1997, the are ...

, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Toompea is the site of the

Government of Estonia The Government of the Republic of Estonia (''Estonian language, Estonian: Vabariigi Valitsus'') is the cabinet (government), cabinet of Estonia. Under the Constitution of Estonia, Constitution, it exercises executive power pursuant to the Cons ...

and the ''

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

'' (parliament), both of which are often simply referred to as ''Toompea''. The parliament meets in the

Toompea Castle Toompea castle () is a medieval castle on Toompea hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. In modern times, it houses the Parliament of Estonia (''Riigikogu''). History The Toompea castle's predecessor, an ancient Estoni ...

which is situated in the southwestern corner of the hill and topped by the Pikk Hermann ("Tall Hermann") tower. The flag on the top of the tower is one of the best-known symbols in Estonia of the government in force. Toompea first emerged as an island from the Baltic Ice Lake around 10,000 years ago. Due to steady

post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound an ...

it became connected with the mainland during the early

Littorina Sea Littorina Sea (also Litorina Sea) is a geological brackish water stage of the Baltic Sea, which existed around 8500–4000 Before Present, BP and followed the Mastogloia Sea (initial Littorina Sea), a transitional stage from the Ancylus Lake. ...

stage. At 5,000 BCE the sea still reached the foot of the cliffs of Toompea. The modern coastline is at a distance of more than 1 km from Toompea and the foot of the hill lies at 17–20 m above sea level. The hill reaches about in elevation.

History

The first stronghold is believed to have been built on the hill in either the 10th or 11th century by residents of the

ancient Estonia Ancient Estonia refers to a period covering History of Estonia from the middle of the 8th millennium BC until the conquest and subjugation of the local Finnic tribes in the first quarter of the 13th century during the Teutonic and Danish Nort ...

n county of

Revala Revala (also ''Rävälä'', , by Henry of Livonia ''Revele'', by Danish Census Book ''Revælæ'') was an Ancient Estonian county. It was located in northern Estonia, by the Gulf of Finland and corresponded roughly to the present territory of H ...

. The late Iron Age fortified settlement did not probably have permanent inhabitants, but was rather seasonally used for protecting the harbour and its adjacent marketplace. The exact location of the stronghold is not known, but it is presumed that it occupied only a small portion of Toompea, either its then-highest point a bit southeast of today's cathedral or the northern end of the hill. Early archaeological evidence from the hill dates mainly to the second half of the 12th century and first half of the 13th century. Smaller amounts of older finds support the view that the stronghold might have been established already during the

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

The hill fort is mentioned in the Henry of Livonia's Chronicle of the

Livonian Crusade The Livonian crusade consists of the various military Crusade, Christianisation campaigns in medieval Livonia – modern Latvia and Estonia – during the Pope, Papal-sanctioned Northern Crusades in the 12th–13th century. Overview Historic ...

by the name '' Lindanise''. As part of the crusade, in the summer of 1219 the King of Denmark Valdemar II launched an attack against Tallinn. His crusaders took over the deserted stronghold and at the same summer started building a new castle in its place, later referred to as the ''Castrum Danorum''. After the Battle of Lindanise which was fought near the castle and resulted Danish victory over the Estonians, a cathedral was also built on the hill, though it was probably not located in the same place as today's cathedral. In the summer of 1227 the castle at Toompea was conquered by the order of the Brothers of the Sword, who immediately after conquest started to fortify the hill. The plateau was divided into three parts: the Small Castle, the Great Castle and the outer ward (southernmost part of the plateau in front of the two castles). The first stone Castle of the Order (the Small Castle) was built in the southwestern corner of the plateau in 1227-1229. The original castle had roughly the same shape as the later expansions of the castle, but was slightly smaller. The castle was returned to Denmark after the Treaty of Stensby in 1238 and remained its property (together with the rest of Northern Estonia – see

Danish Estonia Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A Danish person, also called a "Dane", can be a national or citizen of Denmark (see Demographics of Denmark) * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, ...

) for the next 138 years. In 1240 building of the cathedral was completed in the place it stands today. In the second half of the 13th century Toompea (the Great Castle) was surrounded with a wall by the hill's perimeter, built mainly by

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s who owned the plots there. Beginning from the same period Toompea started to develop into the centre of provincial authority, clergy and nobility in Northern Estonia. Most of the vassals chose Toompea for their residence – living in their estates in the conquered countryside was deemed too dangerous; by the end of the 13th century the Great Castle was densely populated. The distinction between Toompea and the Lower Town (Tallinn) also developed at the time as Tallinn gained its own administration – at least in 1248, when the King of Denmark Eric IV granted the town

Lübeck city rights Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and the second-largest city in the state of Schle ...

, but possibly even earlier. In 1265 the Lower Town was exempted from the rule of the

castellan A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1 ...

and in 1288 the commanders of the castle also lost judicial power over the citizens of the Lower Town. Construction and expansion works on both castles continued in the subsequent centuries. In the first half of the 14th century the southern wall of the Great Castle was renovated and its

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...

was joined with the eastern moat of the Small Castle. In this way the outer ward of the castles was built, after its southern and southeastern sides were surrounded with a wall. The castle as a whole had two exits at the time: the more important one was outer ward's southern gate, through which the road led to

Tõnismägi Tõnismägi (Estonian for ''" St. Anthony's Hill"'') is a 36-metre high hillock adjacent to Toompea hill in Tallinn, Estonia. From 1945 to 1996 the central portion of the hillock was called Liberators' Square (). In the aftermath of the St. George's Night Uprising, in 1346 Denmark sold its possessions in Northern Estonia and followed 215 years under the rule of the

Livonian Order The Livonian Order was an autonomous branch of the Teutonic Order, formed in 1237. From 1435 to 1561 it was a member of the Livonian Confederation. History The order was formed from the remnants of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword after thei ...

. Tallinn (the Lower Town), which was still subjected to Lübeck city rights and only nominally depended on the feudal system, developed into a flourishing Hanseatic city, while Toompea remained politically and socially antithetical to the Lower Town. The boundaries of the territory of Toompea and Tallinn were fixed with an agreement in 1348, when from the city's patrimony was given to Toompea. That area, located southwest of the hill and where the suburbs ( Vorstadt) of Toompea ( Tõnismäe, Kassisaba and Kelmiküla) were built during subsequent periods, was called "Dome territory" until the 20th century. Soon after returning to Toompea, the Order started expanding the castle – the whole Castle of the Order () was extended and developed into the strongest centre of its northerly realms, a symbol of their military and political power. New higher outside walls were built, moats were widened and deepened. The first part of the '' Pikk Hermann'' ("Tall Hermann") tower, which tops the Toompea castle, was completed by 1371. ''Pikk Hermann'' was the first tower in Tallinn adjusted for defence in the era of firearms. Later in the 16th century the tower was rebuilt taller, from the original height of 35 m. The wall of the Great Castle was also fortified with new towers: altogether 14 defence towers (including a gate tower named ''Clock Tower'' – the only exit) had been built along its wall by the end of the 14th century. Estland parliament

The Kingdom of Sweden conquered northern Estonia in 1561, and held it until the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

, when Tallinn was conquered by the Tsardom of Russia in 1710. When Tallinn capitulated to

Eric XIV of Sweden Erik XIV or Eric XIV (13 December 153326 February 1577) became King of Sweden following the death of his father, Gustav I, on 29 September 1560. During a 1568 rebellion against him, Erik was incarcerated by his half-brother John III. He w ...

in 1561, the king decided not to change the ''status quo'' in the relations between Toompea and Lower Town. Toompea, as a separate town (''Dom zu Reval'') under its own administration was able to retain a variety of special rights and privileges, the last of which remained in the books until 1889. Toompea was joined with Tallinn (Lower Town) as late as in 1878, when during the period of

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

the previous laws governing the two towns were replaced with Russian administrative law. The two parts of the town were also united for a brief period in 1785-1796. Toompea and the Lower Town had been united into a single police district in 1805. Particular

private law Private law is that part of a legal system that governs interactions between individual persons. It is distinguished from public law, which deals with relationships between both natural and artificial persons (i.e., organizations) and the st ...

was in force for Toompea until 1944. In 1684, Toompea suffered the most devastating fire of its history. Toompea had been affected by earlier fires in 1288, 1433, 1553 and 1581, but the fire of 1684 was much larger in scale, destroying most of the buildings in the Great Castle, including the cathedral. The Small Castle escaped of the fire intact. The fires are one cause why Toompea looks architecturally different and newer from the Lower Town. In the end of 17th century several plans were made to strengthen the fortifications of Toompea and Tallinn with earthworks and modern

bastion A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fire from the ...

s. Although a design by Erik Dahlbergh was approved in 1686, construction was slow due to financial difficulties and by the start of the Great Northern War only two bastions had been completed around Toompea as intended - the Swedish Bastion and the Ingermanland Bastion, both protecting Toompea from the south. Following the Great Northern War and the conquest of Estonia by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

, the first half of the 18th century was a period of general neglect for Toompea and also for the castle, which fell into disuse for several decades. The situation changed in the second half of the 18th century: in 1767-1773 the east wing of the castle was completely rebuilt into an administrative building of the

Governorate of Estonia The Governorate of Estonia, also known as the Esthonia (Estland) Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire. It was located in the northern Estonia with some islands in the West Estoni ...

by the orders of

Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...

. For constructing the building the southeastern tower of the castle (''Stür den Kerl'') was demolished as were the moats filled in; together with it the outer ward of the castles was designed into a square (the Castle Square, ). The building resembled an aristocratic palace, which prompted the castle acquiring an alternate name: Toompea Palace. The Stenbock House, one of the most remarkable buildings on the northern ledge of the Toompea, was also built in the same period - the intended court house was probably completed by 1792. Tallinn was removed from the list of fortified towns of the Russian Empire in 1857. This allowed three new roads to be built from the southern end of Toompea over the previous defence structures: the Falgi Road, built in 1856–1857, led to the west to Paldiski Highway, the Toompea Street (1860–1861) led south to

Tõnismägi Tõnismägi (Estonian for ''" St. Anthony's Hill"'') is a 36-metre high hillock adjacent to Toompea hill in Tallinn, Estonia. From 1945 to 1996 the central portion of the hillock was called Liberators' Square ().Independence War Victory Column stands today. The general look of Toompea changed greatly when the architecturally completely different Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was built in 1894-1900. The cathedral, situated on the Castle Square in front of the Toompea Palace, was erected during the period of Russification as a symbol of the czarist rule and Russian dominance. Due to its very prominent location and an immediately recognizable Russian style the cathedral garnered opposition already during the time it was built and in the end of the 1920s and 1930s, in the independent

Republic of Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, there were even proposals to demolish it. In 1903, when the Patkuli stairs were built near the northern end of the hill, Toompea got a new access from the direction of the main railway station of Tallinn.

Toompea today

The much-rebuilt Toompea Castle – consisting of the czarist era governor's palace, walls and towers of the medieval fortress, the expressionist parliament building dating from 1922, plus a few other buildings – now houses the Estonian Parliament. The facade of the classicist governor's palace dominates ''Lossi plats'' ("Castle square"), where the Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral overtops it. The cathedral, nowadays the main church of the

Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate The Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC MP; ; ) is a semi-autonomous church in the canonical jurisdiction of Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarchate of Moscow whose primate is appointed by the Holy Synod of the Russian Ort ...

, has become for tourists somewhat of a symbol of Tallinn due to its exotic look, while the opinion of Estonians about it is rather ambiguous. The

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Cathedral ('' Toomkirik'') from which the name Toompea was originally derived, is now the seat of the

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. The EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Ch ...

and has perhaps best retained a medieval look among the buildings of Toompea. Most of the buildings in Toompea date from the 18th and 19th centuries. While the Small Castle has generally preserved its shape, nothing but a few fragments remain of the Great Castle's walls and towers. Other notable sites in Toompea include the building of the

(also known as "The Stenbock House") and the building of the Estonian Knighthood, which in 1992-2005 housed the Estonian Art Museum and since 2009 is temporarily used by the

Estonian Academy of Arts The Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonian language, Estonian: ''Eesti Kunstiakadeemia'', EKA) is the only public university in Estonia providing higher education in art, design, architecture, Media (communication), media, art history and conservation ...

. The

Estonian Academy of Sciences Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences (, ) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to promote research and develo ...

is also seated in Toompea, in the Ungern-Sternberg palace (seat of the local

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

cultural self-government in the interwar period). Toompea is also the location of several foreign embassies to Estonia, including those of Finland, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the office of the embassy of Canada. There are several viewing platforms in Toompea offering good views of the surrounding city.

Geology and topography

Toompea is a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

hill covered by an oblong tableland which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of , and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. Geologically Toompea is associated with the North Estonian Klint (itself a subsection of the

Baltic Klint The Baltic Klint (Clint, Glint; , , ) is an erosional limestone escarpment and cuesta on several islands of the Baltic Sea, in Estonia, in Leningrad Oblast of Russia and in the islands of Gotland and Öland of Sweden. It was featured on the reve ...

). A separate relic klint island, Toompea lies about 1.5 km northwest of the North Estonian Limestone Plateau. The plateau and Toompea are connected with a gently sloped sandstone ridge. From the east, north and west Toompea is bordered for 1.5 km by a cliff with a height of up to 25 m. The southern slope of the hill descends more gently. The upper layer of the hill consists of

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

limestone (thickness about 5 m), which is also the main rock exposed at the cliff. However, most of the cliff face has been hidden behind a protective wall and only a few outcrops are left.

Mythology

In Estonian mythology Toompea is known as the

tumulus A tumulus (: tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, mounds, howes, or in Siberia and Central Asia as ''kurgans'', and may be found through ...

mound over the grave of Kalev, erected in his memory by his grieving wife Linda, as described in the national epic '' Kalevipoeg'':

Linda mourned for Kalev for one month after another till three months had passed, and the fourth was far advanced. She heaped a cairn of stones over his tomb, which formed the hill on which the Cathedral of Revel now stands.^{English translation by W.F. Kirby, 1895}

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * * * *

External links

{{Authority control Hills of Estonia Kesklinn, Tallinn History of Tallinn Landforms of Tallinn Tallinn Old Town