Kiek in de Kök, Tallinn, Estonia

Kiek in de Kök is an artillery tower built between 1475 and 1483. It is 38 m high and has walls 4 m thick. Cannon balls dating back to 1577 are still embedded in its outer walls. Compared to the other Tallinn towers Kiek in de Kök was predominant in its fire power, due to its 27 embrasures for cannons and 30 for handguns

Kiek in de Kök (low German Peep into the Kitchen ) is an old German language nickname for towers, mainly those which were parts of town fortifications. They gained the name from the ability of the tower occupants to literally see what's cooking in the kitchens of nearby houses.

Due to the history of the Hanseatic League and the Teutonic Order, also towers far outside modern Germany bear this name, like in Gdańsk and Tallinn.

20th century restoration work saw the tower and surrounding area returned to a more historical look. The tower now serves as a museum and photographic gallery.

References: Wikipedia, Official Website

User Reviews

Liina Kink (5 months ago)
An amazing museum with lots of interesting things to see. They also do guided tours in a variety of languages - English, Estonian, Russian, Finnish, etc. I had an amazing day :) just remember to notify them in advance if you want to go into the bastion as the spots are limited. I had a lot of fun!

Erik U (5 months ago)
Excellent tour guide who took us down to the bastions. Our favorite museum out of the tallinn city pass. Do the guided tour if available, it is worth the time.

J DeChicchis (6 months ago)
The towers house some various artifacts, including old swords, cannons, and even WW2-era firearms. The catapults are especially interesting. There are also some stocks and torture devices. One upper floor has a scale model reconstruction of the entire presumed wall and towers. There are two cafe areas with wonderful views of the city. Below ground, the English-language tour of the tunnels is excellent.

Alex Hell (8 months ago)
I'm not going to call it a tourist trap (it's definitely not) but I wouldn't call it a "not to be missed experience" either. If anything the video in the start of the tour is thoroughly entertaining but the tour guide although she was clearly doing her best had clearly had enough of it. I wish they would just let us roam around like an art gallery.

oli fubar (9 months ago)
The whole experience was very informative and fun. We went to do the tunnels but the last English tour had already left. We ended up doing the towers and walls then returning the next morning to explorer the passages. The passage tour starts with a history of Tallinn video before entering the tunnels. The tour was based mainly on their use over the last 100 years and not medieval times but still very interesting.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright swamp dragon

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Limburg Cathedral

The Cathedral of Limburg is one of the best preserved late Romanesque style buildings. It is unknown When the first church was built above the Lahn river. Archaeological discoveries have revealed traces of a 9th-century church building in the area of the current chapel. It was probably built in Merovingian times as a castle and the chapel added in the early 9th century.

In 910 AD, Count Konrad Kurzbold (cousin of the future King Konrad I) founded a collegiate chapter of 18 canons, who lived according to the rule of Bishop Chrodegang of Metz, on the hilltop site. The original castle chapel was torn down and a three-aisled basilica was built in its place. The foundations of this basilica have been found beneath the present floor.

The construction of current cathedral is dated to 1180-90. The consecration was performed in 1235 by the archbishop of Trier. It seems certain that the cathedral was built in four stages. The first stage encompassed the west facade, the south side aisle, the choir and the transept up to the matroneum. This section forms the Conradine church. The second stage consisted of the addition of the inner pillars of the south nave. In this stage the bound system was first introduced. In the third phase, the matroneum in the southern nave was built. The fourth stage included the north side of the transept and the choir matroneum. By this stage Gothic influence is very clear.

The interior was destroyed by Swedish soldiers during the Thirty Years War (1618-48) and reconstructed in a late Baroque style in 1749. The Baroque renovation was heavy-handed: the surviving medieval stained glass windows were replaced; all the murals were covered up; the ribs of the vaults and columns of the arcades were painted blue and red; the capstones were gilded; the original high altar was replaced. The colorfully painted exterior was coated in plain white and the central tower was extended by 6.5 meters.

The collegiate chapter of Limburg was dissolved in 1803 during the Napoleonic period, but then raised to the rank of cathedral in 1827 when the bishopric of Limburg was founded. Some renovations in contemporary style followed: the walls were coated white, the windows were redone in blue and orange (the heraldic colors of the Duke of Nassau) and towers were added to the south transept (1865).

Further changes came after Limburg was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866. It was now the Romantic period and the cathedral was accordingly restored to an idealized vision of its original Romanesque appearance. The exterior stonework was stripped of all its plaster and paint, to better conform with the Romantic ideal of a medieval church growing out of the rock. The Baroque interior was stripped away and the wall paintings were uncovered and repainted.

Further renovations came in 1934-35, enlightened by better knowledge of the original art and architecture. Art Nouveau stained glass windows were also added. A major restoration in 1965-90 included replastering and painting the exterior, both to restore it to its original appearance and to protect the stonework, which was rapidly deteriorating while exposed to the elements.

The interior is covered in medieval frescoes dating from 1220 to 1235. They are magnificent and important survivals, but time has not been terribly kind to them - they were whitewashed over in the Baroque period (1749) and uncovered and repainted with a heavy hand in the Romantic period (1870s) before finally being restored more sensitively in the 1980s.

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