Bronze pig sculpture outside Tartu Market / Peace Bridge, renamed from the Russian "Victory Bridge"

Town Hall Square; Capital of Culture/ Estonia flag and Tartu flag / Town Hall

Tartu Art Museum, leaning due to subsidence / Kissing Students Statue

Toome Hill; Angel's Bridge / Devil's Bridge

Toome Hill; Cathedral Ruins - they now house the University of Tartu Museum

St John's Lutheran Church, noted for its small terracotta figures on the outside and inside

University of Tartu Main Building; painting of it on a wall nearby / the front of the actual museum

University of Tartu Art Museum; 19th century student lock-up for naughty students / Assembly Hall

Father and Son Statue (a self portrait by the artist) / Wilde and Vilde Statue

Tartu

June 6, 2024 in Estonia ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

Tartu was established when the Livonian Order (the German Crusaders) built on a hill here (Toomemagi); the town was originally known as Dorpat. Tartu University was established during the Swedish reign in the 17th century. Peter the Great took the town for Russia, but it was mostly wrecked; the rest was destroyed by fire in 1775. After some rebuilding, it was destroyed again in WWII; the Post Soviet period has seen a lot of rebuilding and growth. Tartu is now the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn; it is the premier university town and is the European Capital of Culture for 2024.

We have a guided tour of the Old Town and Toome Hill (Toomemagi), and then I did some more exploring on my own; see captions on photos for details about the city.

In the evening, we walk via the Father and Son statue to the Vilde ja Vine restaurant for dinner; outside is a statue of Oscar Wilde and the Estonian Writer Eduardo Vilde (they never actually met).Read more