In a recent article I was reading that Tartu in Estonia is one of the 2024 European Capitals of Culture and I remembered that beautiful city from my travels in the summer of 2022. So in this month’s travel story I have decided to write about my visit to the city of Tartu.
I visited Estonia along the other Baltic countries of Latvia and Lithuania. Each of this country is beautiful from its sights, scenery, food and people. During my travel to the Baltics which was about 3 weeks long, I travelled to Tartu after my visit to the capital of Estonia, Tallinn. I do plan to write about this beautiful city sometime along with many other wonderful places I visited during this trip.
Tartu is Estonia’s second-largest city and it is rich in history and vibrant in its culture. I could feel this as soon as I entered the city walking on its streets and along the Emajogi river. The Emajogi river in Estonia flows through Tartu County for about 10 kms before flowing into Lake Peipus. I started my visit from the Town Hall Square in the old town area of Tartu. This is one of the loveliest places in the city. A large square set in front of the elegant Town Hall is lined with shops and restaurants on both sides. It was a busy and cloudy afternoon but the old town was filled with lots of people as there was a local concert happening in the nearby area.
Tartu Old Town Square
In the centre of the Town Square Raekoja plats, right in front of the Town Hall stands Tartu’s world famous state of the kissing couple. Passionately holding each other in an embrace and kissing under an umbrella. This statue in Tartu’s central square has been standing for more than 70 years. The sculpture was created in 1998 by renowned Estonian sculptor Mati Karmin.
Nearby is the house of chemist Wilhelm Ostwald who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909. The walk from the town centre led me to Tartu University.
Tartu has Estonia’s oldest and most important university. Tartu university of the founding place of the science of lectins, Lectinology in 1888. Within the university campus there are many famous buildings and among these are the Tartu Cathedral including Estonian National Museum and the Tartu Old Observatory
Tartu Cathedral
Tartu Cathedral, now standing as a ruin within the university campus is a former Catholic church. From the cathedral the lower town can be seen. The renovated part of the cathedral is located as part of the museum of the University of Tartu.
The cathedral was one of the largest religious buildings of Eastern Europe and was dedicated to the patron saints of the city Saint Peter and Saint Paul.
Cathedral hill, landscaped as a park in the 19th century, is the area surrounding Tartu cathedral. There are a number of statues of famous people in the park like Tartu’s greatest natural scientist, Karl Ernst von Baer, the first Estonian poet Kristjan Jaak Peterson and many others. The cathedral hill is also home to the Estonian Supreme Court, the Observatory, university buildings and theatre.
Over the road to the lower town spans a bridge known as the Angel Bridge perhaps derived from the original English bridge. It was built between 1814 and 1816.
Tartu Old Observatory
Tartu Old Observatory building within the university campus is now a museum and belongs to the University of Tartu Museum. This was an active observatory from 1810 to 1964.
Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve was a director of the observatory. He is famously known to have created the Struve Geodetic Arc that is now part of the UNESCO World Heritage list. Tartu Old Observatory was the first point of measurement of the Geodetic Arc.
St. John’s Church
Another beautiful building in the city is the St. John’s Church, dedicated to John the Baptist. This is a red brick Gothic Lutheran church and is one of the famous landmarks of the city of Tartu. St John’s Church has two bells named Peetrus and Paulus after city’s two patron saints St. Peter and St. Paul, respectively.
A key outstanding feature of St John’s Church are the terracotta figurines surrounding the church’s exterior. There were more than a thousand terracotta figurines originally. Each of the figurines are different from each other and now about 200 are present along the outer periphery.
Tartu is a beautiful and lovely city. With many events planned in Tartu throughout 2024, perhaps it is a great time to visit this charming city of culture.
HELPFUL HINTS
- Air Baltic flies from London Gatwick to Tallinn
- Tartu is a two-hour train or bus ride from Tallinn.
- The Estonian National Museum is a must-see in Tartu.
- The town square is one of the best places to enjoy a drink, relax and watch as the world goes by.
- The walks within the university campus has many marked trails.
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