One more time in Estonia, but where? The Wandering Writer discovers

Last time we traveled to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, and we enjoyed the beauties of the medieval town. This time, as I promised, we are going a little bit inside the country to discover another beautiful city; Tartu.

Tartu is the second largest city and can be reached comfortably by plane to the Tartu airport, via Helsinki. Since the airport is just an airport, we are going straight to the most interesting part of the journey, the city of Tartu.

If you thought that Tallinn got the best of the medieval architecture, perhaps you should definitely go and check out what this city has to offer in terms of architecture. Nevertheless, being a university city, it keeps well hidden its age and results in a vibrant environment full of life and events, particularly if you are interested in the nightlife. 

The University of Tartu, is already itself a real jewel of architecture, and I am almost envious as the one I frequented was quite insignificant, architecturally speaking.

I admit that at my age, I am not interested in nightlife anymore. From the crazy university student I used to be, I became a passionate traveler thirsty for history and stories told by the locals. Therefore, I cannot be of any help concerning where it might be the best place for clubbing.

However, I can tell you what it has inspired me by daytime. Well, the first thing is the general outlook of the city, calm yet restless, full of culture and rich in museums very interesting to be visited, which coexist with cafeterias and restaurants.

The second thing that I really suggest you warmly not to miss are the ruins of the Tartu Cathedral also known as Tartu Toomkirik. 

The church is located on one of the hills on the Emajõgi River. According to the history, in that place was the largest strongholds of the pagan Estonians and it was destroyed by the Christian invaders who erected the bishop fortress, and in a second time, the church.

The damages, caused by the Protestant iconoclasts in 1525, together with the action of time (and perhaps the revenge of the ancient deities still living in the surrounding forests), put the church into decay and what is left nowadays are the remains of an impressive church built following the Gothic style.

Perhaps, talking about ruins is not really appropriate, at least thinking about the general outlook, but certainly, is not something that could be used for other reasons than tourism. 

Roaming the city streets randomly you will find another very interesting building, this time in perfect shape. I am talking about the Jaani Church (or if you prefer the St. John Church).

It is just a cute building, and perhaps you might think that you’ve seen more impressive ones around the world. Sure, there are no doubts about it, but the theories around the building of this church are quite interesting. It was built in the first half of the 14^th century. According to some archaeological studies, the church seemed to be built in place of an older wooden church, probably built in the 12^th century. If this could be confirmed it would place the building of the first church before the official Christianization of the country.

I do believe that Estonia has many more beauty to be discovered, and one day, I will go through them all. I just hope to have the time to visit all the places in the world I have in my mind... and that is quite a number.

Have a lovely weekend, wherever you are!