Known in the past as Dorpat, Tartu is Estonia's second largest city. It is the cultural and scientific capital of the country with the seat of the oldest university founded in the 17th century by Gustav II Adolf.
Although Tartu was founded in medieval times and is one of the oldest cities in Estonia, its most important monuments come from later times. For centuries, Dorpat was the object of fierce rivalry between Sweden, Russia and Poland, and was destroyed many times as a result of wars.
The city's most valuable monuments are concentrated in its very center. There is a large Town Hall Square with a classicist town hall building and baroque, classicist and eclectic tenement houses. Among the buildings you can also see the Lutheran church of St. John of the fourteenth century and the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary from the eighteenth century
A big attraction of the city are the ruins of the Roman Catholic cathedral, which was one of the finest brick Gothic buildings in this part of Europe. Currently, her presbytery houses the Historical Museum of the University of Tartu.
The main building of the University founded in the 17th century dates back to 1805. In the nineteenth century the library now operates a museum, and didactic facilities took new buildings outside the very center. Today, thanks to the University of Tartu, it is a city of youth and student culture, and its symbol is the student kiss fountain.
The Tatra Mountains are also a thriving cultural center. Several major museums operate here, including the Estonian National Museum, Brewing Museum, Science Center and the brewing museum associated with the oldest brewery in Estonia.
