Looming over the centre of Haapsalu are the stark grey walls of the combined castle and cathedral, built in the thirteenth century to serve as both the spiritual and military headquarters of the bishops of Osel-Wiek (the name given to the local area by the German-speaking Teutonic Knights). The castle was largely destroyed during Peter the Great’s conquest of Estonia, and has remained a ruin ever since - although the cathedral was restored in the 1880s.

More an expression of brute ecclesiastical power than beauty, the barn-like Cathedral is reckoned to be the largest single-naved church in the Baltic region and has an impressively cavernous, although largely unadorned, interior.

Part of the castle keep has been restored to hold a well-presented and entertaining Castle Museum, which tells the story of Estonia’s Middle Ages with the help of medieval weaponry, stone carving and pottery, and scramble up to a section of the watchtower.

The White Lady