This Janus-faced pile turns a sugar-pink baroque facade towards Toompea, and a stern 14th-century Livonian visage to the sea and intervening suburbs. Three towers have survived from the Knights of the Sword's hilltop castle, the finest of which is 14th-century Pikk Hermann (Long Hermann – best viewed from the rear). In the 18th century, the fortress was radically updated by Russian empress Catherine the Great, converting it into the pretty-in-pink baroque palace that now houses Estonia's Riigikogu (National Council).
Forty-five minute, English-language tours are offered on Thursdays at 11am, with prior booking (go to www.riigikogu.ee).
