Tartu

Located 160km southeast of Tallinn, Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia and its spiritual and intellectual capital. The historic core of Tartu is small but relatively well preserved. The highlights are the Tartu university, which was established by King Gustav Adolph of Sweden in 1632, and the town hall, which was built in an early Neoclassical style, with Rococo and Baroque details between 1782 and 1789. The city of Tartu was already settled in the 6th century, and was conquered by the Knights of the Sword in 1224. Nowadays Tartu is quiet university town home to a large number of students.