Tartu – worth seeing even on the outskirts
Outside the historic city centre, Tartu has a lot of nice residential areas, buildings and many things worth knowing. In many places, it is therefore a good idea to leave the usual touristy path and make a little detour.
- The geographical centre of Tartu is marked by a stone.
East from the centre, close to the crossroads called Riia mägi, you’ll find the theatre Vanemuine, the university library and the art house. A bit further, there is the museum of literature and the academic museum of zoology and geology. Culture and arts are traditionally very important in Tartu.
The Estonian National Museum (Eesti Rahva Muuseum) is located to the west, 32 Veski street. There, you can learn about the culture and every day life in Estonia. In the north – in direction of Toome Hill – on the banks of the river Emajõgi lies the Botanical garden (Botaanikaaed) which was founded in 1806. It is part of the university and consists of a beautiful area with hills and a pond. In general, one can say that Tartu’s cityscape seems very aerate due to numerous lovely green spaces.
- Traditional framehouse in the Soup town.
A bit desolate and dilapidated part of Tartu, Supilinn (the Soup town) lies a little further from the Botanical Garden. It has its own charm of old wooden houses and all the streets in this area are called after vegetables.
There are the “bean-“ (Oa), “potato-“ (Kartuli), “pea-“ (Herne) or the “melon-street” (Meloni). In general, Supilinn is a simple residential area of old-fashioned wooden houses.
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