The story of Toompea Castle

Look for the tallest tower, Tall Hermann, 48 metres high. Every day at sunrise the flag of Estonia is raised at its top to the sound of the national anthem, and it is lowered at sunset. An ancient Estonian stronghold stood on this hill from at least the 9th century.

In 1219 Danish crusaders under King Valdemar II took it, and the castle became known as the Castle of the Danes, in old Estonian taani linna, which is possibly where the name Tallinn comes from. In 1346 the castle was sold to the Teutonic Order, which built the towers you still see, with names like Pilsticker, the arrow-sharpener, and Stür den Kerl, ward off the enemy. Today it houses Estonia's parliament, the Riigikogu, whose building was finished in 1922: traditional outside but Expressionist inside, the only Expressionist parliament building in the world.

A legend says the whole hill was built boulder by boulder by the heroine Linda.