Kiek in de Köki kindlustustemuuseumi pilet

The Kiek in de Kök Fortification Museum is a complex that stretches for more than 500 metres.

It includes four medieval towers: Kiek in de Kök, Maiden Tower, Marstal Tower and Gate Tower. The museum also includes the underground bastion passages constructed in the late 17th century and the Carved Stone Museum they house.

The museum showcases the city’s historic fortifications, the homes built by townspeople along the wall and in its towers built at the end of the 18th century, the artists who lived in one of the towers, and the famous café built in Maiden Tower in the 1980s. Tallinn’s longest wall gallery and towers offer sweeping views of the Old Town.

KIEK IN DE KÖK FORTIFICATIONS MUSEUM

The Kiek in de Kök exhibition provides an overview of Tallinn’s defence history and fortifications. It was completed as Tallinn’s first artillery tower in its original form in 1483. The name by which it is known today was first mentioned in 1577 in a description of the second siege of Tallinn. Kiek in de Kök is also the tallest defensive tower in the city, dating from the late 17th century, when a massive casemate roof was added to it.

MAIDEN TOWER

Maiden Tower is Tallinn’s only rectangular tower and was known in the Middle Ages as the Tower of Megede. It was likely built in the mid-14th century, although it was first mentioned in records in 1373. Its permanent exhibition tells the story of when the tower was converted into a residential building – among other things, housing artists’ studios and homes. In 1980, the tower was restored as a fortification and a popular café was opened here. Maiden Tower also hosts rotating exhibitions. The exhibition in the vaulted cellar recounts the legend of Denmark’s national flag (the Dannebrog) in Estonian art and the Danish symbols in Estonian heraldry.

BASTION PASSAGES

These passages were constructed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The exhibition in the passages outlines the history of the fortifications and events that took place in the tunnels, including stories of people who took refuge in them at various times. The passages also contain a rich collection of carved stone artefacts.

Opening hours

October-April:

11:00-18:00 Tuesday-Sunday

May-September:

11:00-18:00 every day

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS AND SHORTENED WORKING DAYS