Address: Estonia, Tallinn
Build date: 1475 year
Height: 38 m
Coordinates: 59 ° 26'04.8 "N 24 ° 44'29.0" E
Content:
Short description
In the 15th century, with the introduction of firearms into military practice, the medieval fortifications of Europe with their high but thin walls and towers were unable to withstand cannon strikes.
General view of the Kiek in de Kök tower
The towers acquired special massiveness, and loopholes were cut through the thickness of their walls, from where they dealt with the enemy, unleashing a barrage of arrows and cannonballs on him. Tallinn's fortifications have also undergone modernization. A striking example of the evolution of medieval Tallinn towers into gun towers is the Kiek in de Kök tower, erected in 1475-1483 on the slope of Toompea hill.
The tower was built in order to protect the most vulnerable areas in the defense of the fortress. During the restructuring, "Kiek-in-de-Kök" turned into a formidable artillery structure, unmatched in terms of firepower in the entire Baltic region.
The tower acquired its modern look at the beginning of the 16th century, when it was built up from a height of 38 meters to 48 meters. The diameter of the tower is 17 m, and the thickness of the wall varies from 4 meters at the base to 3.7 meters at the top.... In total, the structure has six tiers. The lower floor served as an ammunition storage. On the next four, special furnaces were installed, in which the cores were heated before firing. In cold weather, soldiers used stoves for heating. The last, sixth tier was a platform with loopholes for shelling from cannons and hand-held rifles. From these frightening holes they not only fired, but also poured melted lead on the heads of the enemies.
Tower ground floor
The Kiek-in-de-Kök tower withstood many attacks, and it withstood in 1577, when the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible went to war against Tallinn. For six weeks, the 50,000-strong Russian army unsuccessfully besieged the city. Together with the death of the governor I. V. Sheremetev, who died from being wounded by a cannonball, the Russians lost hope of capturing the fortress.
It was not possible to take Tallinn, but the Kiek-in-de-Kök tower was seriously damaged by the "Unicorn" cannon. According to the Livonian chronicler Balthazar Russov, a gap was made in the powerful wall of the tower, through which two oxen could pass. The "Unicorn" cannon was created by the Moscow foundry worker Andrey Chokhov - the same one who cast the "Tsar Cannon", now installed in the Moscow Kremlin.
Model of the old town fortress
Tallinn residents soon repaired the breach in the tower, and the 100-kilogram cannonballs were walled up in the walls of Kik-in-de-Kök in memory of Ivan the Terrible's campaign. These cores still rest in the thickness of the walls.
The origin of the name of the tower "Kiek-in-de-Kök" ("Look into the kitchen")
Despite its warlike past, the tower bears a peaceful name. In historical documents from 1475 it is designated as "The new tower located at the Harju Gate, opposite the horse watering hole", but already at the end of the 15th century it was given the current name "Kik-in-de-Kök", which is translated from the Old German language as " Look into the kitchen. "
Cafe on the third floor of the tower with an oreginal clock on the ceiling
From the height of the 48-meter tower, the warriors could really look into the chimney and find out what they cook for dinner in the neighboring houses. At the top of the tower, guards were allegedly sitting, who vigilantly watched whether commoners were brewing coffee, and severely punished the guilty. But this is just a legend: Venetian merchants first brought coffee to Europe in 1615, and they began to drink it in the Baltics a little later. The name of the tower - "Kik-in-de-Kök" - was invented by Tallinn residents 150 years earlier. Today, the walls of the tower house a museum dedicated to the military history of Tallinn.
Cannon "Unicorn"
The exhibition features armor of medieval warriors, cannons, cannonballs and other ancient weapons. Recently, excursions to the underground tunnels of the Swedish and Ingermanland bastions, discovered under the tower several years ago, have been organized for tourists.
