TALLINN, ESTONIA–Like our Wooster Geology colleagues in Iceland, we also have a nearly-final day in a city. Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, the medieval town square of which is shown above. We started here briefly at the airport, and will leave from the same place early tomorrow morning. The only difference is that we have one more big city to go: Stockholm, Sweden.
Tallinn, or at least a significant settlement in this place, goes back to the 11th Century, and before that there are Bronze Age artifacts. After the Danes conquered it in the 13th Century, it became known as Reval until the Estonian War of Independence in 1918-1920 when the Estonians could finally give it their own name: Tallinn (or Tallinna). It was a member of the Hanseatic League, being an important trade link between northern Europe and Russia. (And so the merchants in the town square are dressed in the Medieval garb of “Old Hansa”.) This year it is a European Capital of Culture. Tallinn does not sit on a major river but takes advantage of Ordovician limestone heights to raise it above the coastal swamps and bogs.
We enjoyed a day off in the city under (as you might have predicted) sunny skies. Tomorrow is another travel day, and then back to work one more time in Stockholm!
The newly renovated Freedom Square in Tallinn. The memorial is for the Estonian War of Independence (1918-1920).
Rachel and Nick can be barely made out here on the other side of Freedom Square.
Looks beautiful! Safe travels!