Tartu City Government Review

A really beautiful sight in the heart of Tartu every tourist should check out either in winter, spring, summer or autumn

One of the most beautiful and magnifecent town halls not only in the Baltic States but also in the whole world (seriously). Built in a Neoclassical and baroque style, it is well-preserved over time. It is impossible to miss it out during your stay in Tartu and I would say it is worth visiting the town hall during the ooen days. Also it perfectly correlates with the town hall square, and together they make amazing appearence of a medieval town. It's the reason why Tartu is so perfect.

Main square main building. You can't really go in there except tourist information there and pharmacy.

Beautiful town hall at the heart of Tartu. Inside decoration is classic and charming, with wide reception rooms and keeping the history of the place

Pretty nice town hall in a small square. Would look nicer with proper lighting but notthe worst I ve seen...

A Brief History

1030 The Kievan prince, Jaroslav the Wise (c.978-1054), raids Tarbatu and builds his own fort in its place, which was named Jurjev. The description of these events in an ancient Kievan chronicle is the first mention ofTartu in written sources.
1061 Estonians retook the fort.
1224 The German Brethren of the Sword captured Tartu. Tartu became a bishopric.

1262 The army of Prince Dmitri of Novgorod (c.1250-1294) the son of Alexander Nevski (1221-1263) launches an assault on Tartu, capturing and laying waste to the settlement. However, the Russians did not manage to capture the Bishop s Fortress on Toome Hill. After the devastatio, a stone wall was built around the lower-town of Tartu, stretching for a total of about two kilometres. The destruction wrought by the Russians is recorded in Russian and German chronicles, which mention that, alongside the bishop s fortress, a settlement of German merchants and artisans had arisen.
1280s Tartu joined the Hanseatic League. In medieval times, Tartu was an important merchant town.
1525 The German Lutheran reformation reaches Tartu, accompanied by surprisingly violent desecration of the churches (the furnishings of the Diocesan Cathedral on Toome Hill were also destroyed). Some inhabitants even make preparations to attack the bishop s residence.
Before the Livonian War (1558-1583), the population of Tartu was approximately 6,000.
1558 The armies of Tsar Ivan the Terrible (1530-1584) attack at the start of the Livonian War. The town and bishop s palace surrender without resistance to the Russians. The Bishop of Tartu is taken to Moscow and imprisoned there. It is the end of the Bishopric of Tartu and others medieval Livonian minor states. During the next few years Poland, Sweden and Denmark enter the conflict for the access to Old Livonia.
1582 The Jam Zapolski Peace Treaty. Tartu became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

1600-1629 The Swedish-Polish war for Livonia.
1600-1603 Tartu was under the rule of the Swedish King.
1603-1625 Tartu fell to the Poles.
1625 Tartu changed hands again and became a Swedish possession.
1631 The first Printing House was founded in Tartu.
1632 King Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden (1594-1632) founded the University (Academia Gustaviana).
1656-1661 The Swedish-Russian war. The Russians held Tartu during these years.
1684-1688 Near to Tartu, the first teachers training college in Estonia was established, the so-called Forselius Seminary .
1704 Tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725) personally leads the Russian forces in their conquest of Tartu during the Northern War.
1721 The population of Tartu was as low as 21