From St Olav's, Tallinn to Burj Khalifa, UAE.

Tallinn claims that it had the tallest structure in the world when they built the St, Olav's Church. We made it to the top of the current record holder but with the aid of a rapid elevator. We made it up the 258 steps to the top of St Olav's with great difficulty. We were rewarded with great views but later rewarded ourselves with several G&T's. We were sitting on our verandah on the ninth floor of our apartment. This is high for Tallinn as by law no building can be higher than St. Olav's. I have checked out the claim to the record and find it dubious. It may have been before 1300 when St Pauls was built.
It was constructed in the 1100's but was hit by lightning many times and lost parts of its spire. It was also burnt down three times. Currently it is 123.7M a long way below Burj Khalifa's 829.8M. It was still a mammoth effort for us to get to the top.

                                       Was it once the tallest building in the world?

View from the top.

Looking out to the modern town outside the Old Town limits.

View of the Upper Town from St. Olav's

Gail on the top of the world..or she would have been in the late 1200's

Tallinn is divided into an Upper and Lower Town. The Lower  Town was for the merchants who prospered as a part of the Hansiatic League and the Upper Town was for the nobility.

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Looking down on the Old Town from a viewpoint in the Upper Town.

The Alexander Nevski Cathedral in the Upper Town. Spectacular!

We spent the morning in the Old Town but we also had to move accommodation. We had only booked two nights at our first great place and couldn't extend!Don't ask..its a long story.

The old pharmacy in the Town Hall square.

We visited the Danish King's Garden, The Neitsitorn Maiden's Tower and the best known of them all,

The Kiek in de Kok. This is a view from this landmark.

Wonderful views from the walls.

A view of Kiek in de kok. This is not as painful as it sounds! It means Look inside the kitchen. Germans did it looking for spies. Not sure where they kicked them if they were found!

Rob in the Neitsitorn.

The tower guards.