Welcome to the Old Town of Tallinn

In the beginning of the 13^th century Estonia was declared Virgin Marys Land by the Pope. After that, invaders came to Estonia from every direction as these areas were still not Christianized. The so-called ancient freedom fight lasted for 19 years: 1208-1227.

Tallinn was invaded by the Danes in 1219 and after that a strong military stronghold was built here. In the 14^th century the king of Denmark sold his land in Estonia to the Order of the Brotherhood of the Sword, a German order (established in Riga by Bishop Albert). But as during the Medieval times Lithuania was powerful, its armies managed to destroy the forces of the Brotherhood of the Sword. But that didnt make the Germans leave. The remains of the Brotherhood of the Sword were united with the German or also the so-called Teutonic order. When the Order of the Brotherhood of the Sword was created by Bishop Albert to help him crucify Livonia (the name for Estonia and Northern Latvia), then the Teutonic Order was one of the three main crusader-orders in Europe. The leaders of these big Orders could be more powerful than kings. The Teutonic Order created a new Order and named it the Livonian Order. The objective of this branch of the Teutonic Order was to govern .

After the Reform in the beginning of the 16^th century Protestantism became the religion of the people and even nowadays the majority of those who are believers in Estonia, are Protestants. In the middle of the 16^th century Ivan the Terrible, the Russian tsar started the Livonian War. During this war Tallinn was under siege by the army of the tsar for 37 weeks and never fell. The Teutonic Order had lost its power and after the Livonian War Estonia was divided between Sweden, Poland and Denmark. And then, after numerous little combats, hungers and dividings Estonian fell under the power of Sweden.

Disclaimer and privacy policy