Stylist’s Deputy Art Editor, Callum Lewis, visits the Estonian capital, where medieval architecture provides the backdrop to a tech and culture boom

Ask any Estonian under the age of fifty what their country is most proud of, and you might expect to hear about the perfectly-preserved medieval architecture, or cross-country skiing, or even Eurovision glory days. But in fact, the thing Estonians rave about the most is Skype. Estonia is a tech powerhouse, with online voting (not Eurovision; we’re talking proper politics), tech training for schoolchildren from first grade onwards, and so we shouldn’t be surprised that the code for Skype was created back in 2003 right here in Tallinn. More than any other European city I’ve ever visited, Tallinn straddles the old and the new, effortlessly fusing the modern and the medieval.

Kissing the Baltic Sea, and sharing a latitude with St Petersburg and Stockholm, Tallinn’s Old Town is something straight out of a fairy-tale, a maze of cobbled streets and medieval churches making up a UNESCO world heritage site. In the summer, blue skies and sunshine illuminate the brightly-hued baroque buildings, and in winter, an atmospheric Christmas market (the tradition of having a Christmas tree in the square here dates back to 1441) takes over the Town Hall Square. The local nutsellers (yes, it’s a job: almonds roasted in a sweet orange glaze are a traditional Estonian snack) shamelessly play up to this fantasy by wearing costume as they flog their aromatic wares. Trust me, these almonds smell a lot better than hotdogs.

Wander Tallinn’s old town and meet a new city