Exploring Eastern Europe: Estonia

Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, the northernmost and smallest of the three Baltic states. The city, which used to be called Reval, is located on the Gulf of Finland, only about 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Helsinki. One third of Estonia's 1.3 million inhabitants live here. The Danish king granted Tallinn city rights in the 13th century. The skyline shows the co-existence of old and new.

The Toompea or Cathedral Hill offers a good view of Tallinn's Lower Town and the Gulf of Finland. The entire historic center, built mainly in the 13th and 14th centuries, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

One of Peter the Great's summer palaces is in the northeast of Tallinn. The Russian tsar built it for his wife Catherine I at the beginning of the 18th century, after driving out Swedish occupiers. Since Estonia's declaration of independence in 1919, the palace has served mainly as an art museum.

The Eesti Kommunismiohvrite Memoriaal between the old town of Tallinn and the Baltic Sea is a memorial to the victims of communism. It is dedicated to the inhabitants of Estonia who suffered under Soviet terror. The names of 22,000 Estonians who died during the Soviet occupation of Estonia between 1940 and 1991 are engraved on two black metal walls.

Established in 1971, Lahemaa National Park is the oldest and largest in Estonia. Various protected zones extend over 725 square kilometers, some of which are off-limits to humans, while others are popular with tourists. In the coastal resorts in particular, vacation accommodations for soft tourism have been built since the 1980s.

Among the numerous natural landscapes worth seeing is the Jägala Waterfall east of Tallinn. About three kilometers before entering the Baltic Sea, the water of the Jägala River plunges down about 8 meters (26 feet) across an area of 50 meters. Even in winter, when the water freezes, it is an impressive sight.

Nature and proximity to the Baltic Sea also define the Arvo Pärt Center in Laulasmaa. The archive and concert hall named after probably the most famous Estonian composer are located in a pine forest. It was Arvo Pärt's love of the Estonian landscape, with its forests and almost deserted coastline, that prompted him to move here and to have the music center built from his estate.

Tartu, Estonia's second biggest city, has a long and eventful history. Destroyed by the Grand Duke of Kyiv shortly after it was founded, it developed into an important Hanseatic city in the Middle Ages. Today Tartu, with the oldest Estonian university, is popular with students. The city, with its classicist town hall (photo), is worth a visit and will be the European Capital of Culture in 2024.

Far to the east of Estonia you will find Narva, the third largest city in Estonia, named after the border river of the same name with Russia. Located on the EU's external border, it shows mutual attempts at demarcation. On the one (left) side there is Herman Fortress from the time of the Teutonic Order in Estonia and on the other side there is the Russian fortress Ivangorod.

People in Estonia are supporting Ukraine by taking in refugees. And based on gross domestic product (GDP), this small country is providing the most support for Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, Estonia has pledged the equivalent of almost 0.8% of its GDP to help Ukraine, according to data provided by Germany's Kiel Institute for the World Economy.