Women of the Old Town

Women of the Old Town Tallinn — seven stories across the centuries

Women of the Old Town Tallinn is a two-hour walk that uncovers the other half of this medieval city’s history — the women who built it, ran it, prayed in it and reshaped it. History has traditionally been written through the eyes of men, yet the role of women here was often far greater and more profound than it first appears. Over the course of seven stories, you’ll meet merchant matriarchs, mystical maidens and the city’s first female writers and artists, all in the streets where they actually lived and worked.

What you’ll see on this walk

• Town Hall Square — we meet here, and I share the role medieval merchant women played in Tallinn society.
• The craftspeople’s district — narrow streets where washwomen, seamstresses and teachers once worked, each stop bringing one woman’s story to life.
• Toompea and the modern age — we finish on the upper town with the tales of Tallinn’s first female writers, artists and politicians.
• Tallinn Cathedral — the church on Toompea consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in a land dedicated to her since the Middle Ages.
• Toompea Castle — the pink parliament building completed during the reign of Catherine the Great.

The route of the Women of the Old Town Tallinn tour

We begin where merchant life once centred — on Town Hall Square — before slipping into the quieter craftspeople’s lanes. Tallinn has throughout the ages been described as a virgin city, for no foreign conqueror ever managed to take it by storm. Unlike many European capitals that were repeatedly bombed or destroyed, Tallinn’s medieval Old Town has miraculously remained largely intact; the city changed hands over the centuries, but mostly through peaceful agreements and diplomacy. That continuity is exactly why these women’s footsteps are still so easy to trace.

The Women of the Old Town Tallinn tour then climbs to Toompea — not merely a rocky hill, but a place deeply rooted in Estonian mythology. In the national epic Kalevipoeg, Linda buries her husband, old Kalev, here, carrying stones in her apron to build his grave. From this mythical mother of the nation we move to the sacred: Estonia has been a land dedicated to the Virgin Mary since the Middle Ages, and at the very heart of Toompea stands Tallinn Cathedral, consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary like so many other Estonian churches.

The Old Town is also tied to some of the most celebrated women in world history. During the reign of Catherine the Great, the beautiful pink parliament building known today as Toompea Castle was completed, and several European queens have left their mark on Tallinn — among them Denmark’s Margrethe II and Great Britain’s Elizabeth II. By the time the walk ends, the Women of the Old Town Tallinn have carried us from medieval guild halls to twentieth-century studios and parliaments. The tour runs in English or Estonian and can be booked directly here.

Women of the Old Town tour at a glance

• Duration: 2 hours
• Difficulty: Easy — a relaxed walk on cobbled Old Town streets
• Group size: 1–15 people
• Languages: English, Estonian
• Meeting point: Town Hall Square (Raekoja plats)
• Suitable from: suitable for all ages

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Tour starts: In front of the August 20th Memorial Stone 

Tour ends: Town Hall Square