Tallinn Old Town

Tallinn's Old Town on a nice summer day in 2006 as seen from the bar at the 24th floor of the Radisson hotel.

Seen from the Radisson.

The left-most medieval defensive tower in this photo is Kiek in de Kök. Behind it a little to the right is Pikk Hermann, the tower that carries the national flag. To the right of that is Aleksander Nevski Cathedral, the Russian orthodox church on Toompea with the distinctive onion shaped domes. A bit further to the right we can see Niguliste church, the church that is slightly in the foreground and Toomkirik, the church that's a bit more in the background. Continuing to the right we can see Old Town proper and its spires. In particular one can make out Vana Toomas, the medieval town hall spire and the spire of the church of the Holy ghost (Pühavaimu kirik). The yellowish building with the white columns in the foreground is the opera house.

Scrolling all the way to the right of this panorama, you will see the large white tower and tall spire of St. Olav's church (Oleviste kirik), that was once the tallest building in the world. This beautiful panorama of the historical old center comes to an abrupt end with the appearance all the way on the right of Viru hotel, which was built during the Soviet occupation.