Raekoja plats (Town Hall Square)

Raekoja plats is the heart of Tartu and one of the most pleasant town squares in the Baltic states. The sloping neoclassical square is framed by 18th and 19th-century buildings, anchored by the white town hall at the top and the Kissing Students fountain at the bottom. The surrounding streets are dense with cafés, restaurants, and independent shops.

The square is lively at any time of day, but particularly in the evenings and during the Student Days festival in late April. Most of Tartu's main sights are within a ten-minute walk of here. Start here in the morning with coffee and work outward.

things to do landmark
A story
The town hall that gives the square its name was built between 1782 and 1789 in a Classicist style unusual for Estonia — it was designed to look more like a German or Dutch civic building than a typical Baltic church-and-market square. The 'Kissing Students' fountain at the square's lower end was installed in 1998 and has become Tartu's unofficial symbol, though it was initially controversial.

Other places in Things to Do