Viru Gate - Tallinn, Estonia
Posted by: 
Metro2
N 59° 26.238 E 024° 45.002
35V E 372392 N 6590905
These gates are part of remains of the 14th century walls and gates that surrounded and fortified the old town of Tallinn.
Waymark Code: WMJJJ6
Location: Estonia
Date Posted: 11/25/2013
Views: 24
Built in the 14th century, these gates are one of the few that remain...most having been demolished in more modern times to accomodate traffic.
This website (
visit link) informs us:
"Viru Gate is one of the 26 remaining wall towers of the original 45 towers in Tallinn, Estonia. The gate dates from the 14th century and is the entryway leading into Old Town Tallinn. This Old Town is one of Europe's few medieval cities still wrapped in its original defense walls. With way over half of its city wall still standing along with the 26 defense towers, it's easy to see how Tallinn was once Europe's best fortified city."
and this tourism website page (
visit link) adds:
"This pair of picturesque, ivy-covered towers at the beginning of Viru Street – one of the main pedestrian arteries into Old Town – is often the very first glimpse visitors get of historic Tallinn. Anyone passing between them couldn't be blamed for thinking they've left the 21st century behind and landed smack in the middle of the 18th.
The towers are actually only the foregates of what was a much more complex gate system built in the 14th century. It included a large, square tower that stood father back along the street, close to where the city wall can be seen.
Most of the gate was pulled down in the 1880s to make room for traffic, but these two towers remained and have since become a symbol of the town."