The Underground Bastion Tunnels of Tallinn

The underground Bastion tunnels of Tallinn were the most interesting place we visited in Estonia. Definitely worth a visit!

Because we usually spend our summers in Finland it is super easy to visit Estonia from there. When I was younger, we used to visit there all the time and it was so much fun. But now as I’m older, I am excited that I can take my American husband and our kids there with me.

We drove our car into a ferry in Helsinki and a little over two hours we were already in Tallinn. Before heading further we decided to stay there for a night to explore the city a little.

If you would ask me to name one thing everyone should see in Tallinn, it would definitely be the Tallinn Old Town. It is the best preserved medieval city in Northern Europe and was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. And it is just beautiful!

Most visitors know about the Old Town, but only a very few of them known about the world under it. The dark and cold, but fascinating Bastion Tunnels lie directly underneath Tallinn Old Town.

WHAT ARE THE BASTION TUNNELS?

The Bastion tunnels below Tallinn Old Town are part of the Kiek in de Kök Fortifications Museum. The hidden tunnels were built in the 17th and 18th centuries as part of the fortified bastions.

Bastions were first built in Italy and in many places they replaced traditional castles. Castle walls were very vulnerable to cannon fire and the fortifications needed to be built lower in order to be safe. Using bastions made it also easier to defend a fire coming from multiple different directions at the same time.

There were many obstacles while building the bastions in Tallinn. The biggest ones were a lack of funds and lack of workmen. In 1710 The Great Northern War started and Russia was able to conquer the city of Tallinn. The construction of bastions halted and they were never used for their actual purpose of defencing the city.

The Kiek in de Kök Fortification Museum is located at Toompea Hill very close to Freedom Square. The fortification is beautiful also from outside and I would encourage you to walk around both sides of the wall.

THE COLOURFUL HISTORY OF The BASTION TUNNELS IN TALLINN

When the bastion was first constructed, Estonia was under Swedish rule. A Swedish military engineer and architect Erik Dahlbergh took the lead for all of the fortifications and decided to build 11 bastions around Tallinn.

Construction began in 1686, but only three of them were ever finished. The times in Estonia were tough and people were experiencing starvation. Then in 1700 a war started with Russia and Tallinn switched hands. Dahlbergh was not able to finish his full plan.

Later, during the Crimean War in 1853-56 some English warships were spotted in the Gulf of Finland. The bastions were put into war readiness. But then Russia suddenly decided to remove them from their list of military sites and they were soon completely abandoned. They were never actually used in war. Later they were used as storage space and for spying on the adversary.

In Word War II the passages were used during air raids. They had been transformed into anti-gas shelters, but luckily gas weapons were never used in Tallinn. Later, during Soviet times people were afraid of a nuclear war and again used the tunnels as a shelter.

In the museum they had a child doll wearing a gas mask which was quite touching. We have seen so many sad pictures from the war lately, that seeing the doll gave me chills.

Later the local Art Foundation stored their sculptures in the tunnels.

After Estonia secured its independence, many people had problems coping with all the changes and they ended up on the streets. From 1991 to 2004, abandoned tunnels were used by homeless people and at some point the underground punk movement used them.

The city of Tallinn decided to open the tunnels up to the public in 2004 and cleaned them out. Homeless people had to move elsewhere.

VISITING THE BASTION PASSAGES IN TALLINN

A visit to the bastion tunnels was very interesting and exciting. At first we had to climb down some steep steps. Even though there were signs warning us about the slippery and wet rock floors, we got down quite easily with kids.

The tunnels are chilly and moist, and I would recommend bringing some warmer clothes. Once at the bottom, you can just walk through the passages and stop in little “rooms” to see the exhibition.

You can choose either a guided tour or a NUMU Nutimuuseum phone application for your tour. The application is free, but I recommend downloading it before going down to the tunnels while you still have good wifi. I thought that the guidance on the app was very good and I listened to it again while writing this post.

There are also some information boards in the tunnels and even some videos you can watch.

Even though the tunnels were quite dark and narrow, our kids were not scared there. The only place that scared them a little was the room with stories about ghosts haunting the tunnels.

The tunnels end at the Museum of Carved Stone (Raidkivimuuseum). This part of the tunnels were under water for over 100 years as they were closed in the 1930s and over time were filled with water. Later the city sent some divers to research the area.

Today it exhibits various methods of using limestone, Estonia’s national stone. It is the same stone that the tunnels are made of as well. Many of the carved stones have been decorating local houses, gates or gardens. In the Death Hall you can even see some gravestones from the 1950s.

When you visit the Kiek in de Kök Fortification Museum you can choose from several different ticket packages. The museum consists of the Kiek in de Kök tower, the Maiden’s Tower (Neitsitorn), the Stable Tower (Tallitorn), the Gate Tower (Väravatorn) and the bastion passages with the Carved Stone Museum.

You can purchase a combination ticket or a ticket to only certain areas of the museum. There is also a family ticket available. Unfortunately, we were there so late that the museum was open only for another hour, so we had to choose between the towers or tunnels. Hopefully we can go back someday to see the rest of the museum.

We walked slowly through the tunnels and read signs. Then we had about 15 minutes to walk back to the entrance. Right when we were about to turn back, a museum clerk walked up to us and said she could let us out from the back door that is not otherwise in use. I think they walk through the tunnels before closing to see that no one is left behind.

So we climbed up to the street from this “secret door” and it took us a little while to locate where we were. We had walked quite a distance underground.

Our visit to the bastion tunnels was very interesting and unique, and we really liked it. If you are visiting Tallinn in Estonia, make sure to include this in your plans!

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There are also so many other things you can do in Tallinn Old Town too. Here is our one day itinerary for Tallinn Old Town.

A visit to Tallinn is a perfect day trip from Helsinki, or you can stay longer and explore the country more. On our trip to Estonia from Finland we also visited a city of Tartu. If you don’t have time to tour around the country I recommend that you at least do a day trip to Tallinn. It is definitely worth it!

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