Tallinn

Received from: Finland
Category: Postcrossing - official card
Date: November 2012
Distance: 1310 km
Time of travelling: 4 days

Viru Gate - this pair of picturesque, ivy-covered towers at the beginning of Viru Street – one of the main pedestrian arteries into Old Town – is often the very first glimpse visitors get of historic Tallinn. Anyone passing between them couldn't be blamed for thinking they've left the 21st century behind and landed smack in the middle of the 18th.

The towers are actually only the foregates of what was a much more complex gate system built in the 14th century. It included a large, square tower that stood father back along the street, close to where the city wall can be seen. Most of the gate was pulled down in the 1880s to make room for traffic, but these two towers remained and have since become a symbol of the town.