The Toompea Slope
I am Toompea, the start of the city and seat of power.
The high escarpment has been shaped longed ago, hundreds of million years ago, in the Ordovician period. I could have been greater and taller at the beginning of the human history here, a limestone butte or long hill, mons longa, as I was known in the first written records. The limestone layer is wiped away on my southern side and on Tõnismägi, which, at one time, was connected with me.
According to ancient mythology, the local people consider my rise to be the grave of Kalev, which his widow Linda has gathered together. It is said that here in the depths of the grave of old Kalev, all sorts of treasures have been hidden, which, according to hearsay, have been searched for in real life. I was actually not a rightful part of the city until the end of the 19th century, but the land of the ruler. Knights, nobles and church fathers have erected here grand buildings which, differently from the old town, have burned down many times. There was an especially big fire at the end of the 17th century and only in the 18th century new palaces of the nobility were started to be erected. It is only in the Dome Church that the oldest parts, from the Danish era, can still be found. It is perhaps the Dome Church that is the oldest preserved structure in the city.
My limestone butte sometimes crumbles and shakes, so many buildings have become structurally unsound. The Toompea slope has still been fortified throughout the ages and for the most part, the natural escarpment is covered with a supporting wall.