In few places in Europe does the aura of the 14th and 15th centuries survive intact the way it does in Tallinn's Old Town, a jumble of medieval walls and turrets, needling spires and winding, cobbled streets. Nevertheless, Estonia's capital is so modern it's been dubbed 'a suburb of Helsinki'.
Toompea is home to the 19th-century Russian Orthodox Alexandr Nevsky Cathedral; Toompea Castle, the meeting place of Estonia's parliament, the Riigikogu; Toomkirik, the Lutheran cathedral founded in 1233; the Estonian Art Museum; and Kiek-in-de-Kök, a tall, stout tower built around 1475.
