Tallinn

Tallinn, one of the most beautiful walled cities in the world, is Estonia's most populated capital city. Tallinn is administratively located in Harju county in northern Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. Tallinn is Estonia's principal financial, industrial, and cultural center. It is located 187 kilometers (116 miles) northwest of Tartu, the country's second-largest city, but only 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Helsinki, Finland, as well as 320 kilometers (200 miles) west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, 300 kilometers (190 miles) north of Riga, Latvia, and 380 kilometers (240 miles) east of Stockholm, Sweden. Tallinn was known in much of the world by versions of its other historical name Reval from the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century.

Margaret Sambiria authorized the construction of the first wall around Tallinn in 1265, giving rise to the name "Margaret Wall." This wall was only around 5 meters (16 feet) tall and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) thick at the base. It has since been expanded and fortified. The walls and numerous gates are still mostly intact today. This is one of the reasons Tallinn's old town was designated as a World Heritage Site. Tallinn's walls were expanded in the fourteenth century, and people were forced to report for guard duty, which included wearing armor and proving their readiness to meet invaders.

Location: Harju, Estonia