Looming over the Old Town to the southwest is the limestone outcrop known as Toompea, the site of an Estonian stockade fort until the Danes took it over in 1219 and built a stone castle, later wrested from them by the Livonian Order. As the nerve centre of the Christian effort to convert the pagan Estonians, Toompea (from the German word “Domberg”, meaning “Cathedral Hill”) often led a separate life from the rest of Tallinn below – which was much more interested in trade than ideology.

The seat of several state and religious institutions, Toompea still stands apart from the rest of central Tallinn – a somewhat secretive lair of bureaucrats and ministers rather than the happy-go-lucky habitat of shoppers and drinkers.

The most atmospheric approach to Toompea from the Old Town is through the sturdy gate tower – built by the Livonian Order to contain the Old Town’s inhabitants in times of unrest – at the foot of Pikk jalg (“Long Leg”). This is the cobbled continuation of Pikk, the Old Town’s main street, and climbs up to Lossi plats (Castle Square).