3 ms·

I think Estonia's old Hanse town, Tallin (Reval) fits. Between 1549 and 1625 its church was the tallest building in the world (and its peak height wouldn't be

I think Estonia's old Hanse town, Tallin (Reval) fits. Between 1549 and 1625 its church was the tallest building in the world (and its peak height wouldn't be exceeded until 1884!. Very interesting table here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=294496 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=294496 ). Wikipedia has good historical population numbers for the town: Year . . . . Population 1372 . . . . 3,250 1772 . . . . 6,954 But I've haven't visited yet, so I'm not sure.

rms 18y ago
Thanks for the link, that's a great Wikipedia article
- herdrick 18y ago
  Agreed - in fact I just submitted it as a new HN story.
asmosoinio 18y ago
Tallinn Old Town is definitely a good place. Lot's of restaurants and tourists, but the buildings and the atmosphere is really medieval. Another somewhat similar place close by is old town in Stockholm, aka "Gamla Stan" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla_Stan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla_Stan). The feeling there is a bit less medieval though, could be that some of the buildings are a bit newer or maybe just look that way. I have visited both places many times. And while you're at it, go check out Turku in Finland. Some nice old buildings and my home town. :) Castle is from 1280s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku_Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku_Castle
herdrick 18y ago
A good algorithim would be to take a list of Hanse towns and subtract the ones you've heard of. The rest are backwaters that were previously important.
- mtts 18y ago
  Good suggestion. However, research the ones that are left before you spend a day travelling to one of them, as chances are it'll be pretty but very, very small (thinking of Doesburg and Bronkhorst, for example).
pelle 18y ago
Tallin is a great example of a fantastic medieval Northern European town. http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/544023/ http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/544023/

rms 18y ago

Thanks for the link, that's a great Wikipedia article

herdrick 18y ago
Agreed - in fact I just submitted it as a new HN story.

asmosoinio 18y ago

Tallinn Old Town is definitely a good place. Lot's of restaurants and tourists, but the buildings and the atmosphere is really medieval. Another somewhat similar place close by is old town in Stockholm, aka "Gamla Stan" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla_Stan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla_Stan). The feeling there is a bit less medieval though, could be that some of the buildings are a bit newer or maybe just look that way. I have visited both places many times. And while you're at it, go check out Turku in Finland. Some nice old buildings and my home town. :) Castle is from 1280s: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku_Castle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turku_Castle

herdrick 18y ago

A good algorithim would be to take a list of Hanse towns and subtract the ones you've heard of. The rest are backwaters that were previously important.

mtts 18y ago
Good suggestion. However, research the ones that are left before you spend a day travelling to one of them, as chances are it'll be pretty but very, very small (thinking of Doesburg and Bronkhorst, for example).

pelle 18y ago

Tallin is a great example of a fantastic medieval Northern European town. http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/544023/ http://flickr.com/photos/pelle/sets/544023/