Exploring Tallinn — Kadriorg Park
About the author: Francesca Verville’24 is an FSI Global Policy Intern with the International Centre for Defence and Security. She is currently a Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy studnet at Stanford University.
Over the past few weeks, Tallinn, Estonia, has begun to feel more and more like home and a place I genuinely feel comfortable in. However, as a Midwesterner by birth and a Colorado mountain girl at heart, being in nature is essential to my emotional, mental, and physical health. Tallinn is Estonia’s capital and largest population center, and its winding (and currently construction-filled) streets initially seemed like a doubtful place to find a green space large enough to satisfy my very high standards for nature in an urban area. Yet I was pleasantly surprised and extremely grateful to have found the city’s best patch of green — Kadriorg Park — a mere 10 minutes walk from my apartment.
Originally commissioned in the early 1700s by the Russian Tsar Peter the Great for his wife Catherine I soon after his conquest of Estonia, the park is around 170 acres and is full of places to eat, sit, or explore. Almost every pathway in the park is lined with oak, lilac, and pine trees to give shade to every strolling passerby or group of picnickers. And there is plenty to see: the park’s attractions include six museums, with the largest being the stunningly baroque Kadriorg Palace, which houses the Kadriorg Art Museum, as well as the more modern Kumu Art Museum. Yet all of these buildings — historical or not — are surrounded by a combination of formal gardens and seemingly wild land.
Regarding the more formally composed attractions, I have been able to walk through the Upper/Flower Garden behind the Palace, slowly stroll through the stunning new addition of the Japanese Tea Garden, visit the romantic Swan Pond (they have surprisingly good hamburgers), and relax on the shady Rose Hill (excellent for reading after work). Each location is gorgeous and almost always full of visitors.
Indeed, the singular time Kadriorg is not bustling with life is in the mornings. I am an avid runner, and my favorite time to visit this space has been when the walkways are clear and the sun is just beginning to warm up the Baltic. For me, the best way to experience a new place is through a run, and it was my morning training runs through the park that allowed me to feel my connection to Tallinn the most tangibly. I look forward to continuing my morning ritual through this beautiful space as I complete the rest of my internship here in Tallinn.
And a note for readers who decide to visit this lovely country on the Baltic Sea — I genuinely recommend a visit to Kadriorg, not only for the chance to learn about the artistic and historical legacies of Estonia but, more generally, to experience the best patch of green the city has to offer.
