Katariina Käik

Tallinn Old Town
14.29 pm,  Sunday 13 October 2019

Katariina Käik (St Catherine’s Passage) runs between Vene and  Müürivahe (streets) in the oldest part of Tallinn.  It dates from some time between 1246, when the Dominican monastery was built, and 1366 when the city’s first town census was held.

A local legend tells that anyone escaping down Katariina Käik while being led towards execution in the town square is never recaptured in the warren of buildings.  There’s no opportunity to test the veracity of the story today, but tourists sometimes find it difficult to escape the area after nightfall, especially if they’ve been in one of the bars too long.

In the alcoves between the flying buttresses are local arts and craft stalls and shops where you can pick up a knitted all-wool nordic jumper for the fraction of the price you might pay in Iceland or Denmark.