From behind Tartu’s Town Hall, Lossi tänav climbs Toomemägi (“Cathedral Hill”), site of a fortress and a cathedral during the Middle Ages, subsequently abandoned after damage in the Livonian Wars.

The area was derelict until the refounding of the university in 1802, when it was chosen as the site of several key academic buildings and generously planted with the trees that make it such a relaxing spot today.

The bridges

The approach to the hill passes beneath Angel’s Bridge (Inglisild), a brightly painted wooden structure dating from the nineteenth century; carry on over the brow of the hill and you’ll pass under its counterpart on the other side, the Devil’s Bridge.

Anatomical Theatre

Toomemägi’s southern end is marked by the impressive, barrel-shaped Anatomical Theatre, designed by J.W. Krause in 1803. In many ways the university’s trademark – medicine has always been one of the most prestigious subjects taught here – the building was in use as an anatomical theatre right up until 1999.

University Observatory

A short distance south, a building that looks like a decapitated windmill turns out to be the University Observatory, also designed by the ubiquitous Krause. Best known among the astronomers who came to ogle celestial bodies here was F.W. Struve (1793–1864), one of the first scientists to accurately measure the distances of various stars from the earth – he’s celebrated by an angular concrete monument out front.