Patarei Sea Fortress tour (in Estonian)

The Estonian Architecture Centre's tour programme gives you the chance to visit, for a limited time, an architectural gem with a very exciting history before it is closed for a thorough reconstruction. On this exclusive tour we open the heavy doors and complicated corridors of Kalaranna Fort. The tour takes visitors to places that have never been open to the public.

Kalaranna Fort is known under several names and has had different functions throughout its history. Under the defence plan approved by Emperor Alexander I in 1820, work on a fortification zone around Tallinn began under his successor Nicholas I, and construction of Kalaranna Fort started in 1830. The finished fort was impressive: its seaward walls were about 2 metres thick, and its seaward side had three floors with 72 large and 18 small combat chambers in total.

By the middle of the 19th century the fort had lost its military importance, and the complex was adapted into barracks that housed, at different times, several thousand soldiers.

After the War of Independence there was a great shortage of prison places in Tallinn. Since the Ministry of Justice at the time judged that the military used the complex too little, a prison was set up in the former fort and barracks. The institution, officially the Central Prison, quickly became known popularly as Patarei Prison. The most colourful and most recent history of the building is also linked to the prison period, and the tour guides share it with participants.

The tour lasts 90 minutes and is given in Estonian and in Russian. Today the complex and the surrounding area under the name Patarei Sea Fortress are being developed by US Real Estate OÜ, whose vision is to make the complex Tallinn's new seaside heart, with office space, flats, shops, a food street and entertainment venues.

Organiser: Estonian Architecture Centre. Custom tours can be arranged in six languages in various places across Estonia; enquiries to info@archtours.ee.