Dominating the western end of Toompea district is Toompea Castle (Toompea loss), on the site of the original Danish fortification. The castle has been altered by every conqueror who raised his flag above it since then; these days it wears a shocking-pink Baroque facade, the result of an eighteenth-century rebuild under Catherine the Great.

The northern and western walls, the oldest part of the castle, include three defensive towers, the most impressive of which is the 50m-high Hermann (Pikk Hermann) at the southwestern corner, dating from 1371.

As the home to the Riigikogu, Estonia’s Parliament, Toompea witnessed many of the events leading up to the re-establishment of Estonia’s independence – most notably on May 15, 1990, when citizens gathered to defend the building against followers of the pro-Soviet Intermovement, who were attempting to storm it.