In the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia

 "... If, in the dusk of the twilight, Dim be the region afar,

Will not the deepening darkness, Brighten the glimmering star?
Then when the night is upon us Why should the heart sink away?
When the dark midnight is over, Watch for the breaking of day...."
-- Whispering Hope, lyrics by Septimus Winner (under the pseudonym, Alice Hawthorne)
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(in the northernmost of the three Baltic states) Estonia includes some 1,500 islands and islets; the two largest of the islands, Saaremaa and Hiiumaa, are off mainland Estonia’s west coast. The country is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland (across from Finland), to the west by the Baltic Sea (across from Sweden), to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Lake Peipus and Russia. Estonia has been dominated by foreign powers through much of its history. In 1940 it was incorporated into the U.S.S.R., and remained a Soviet republic until 1991, when, along with the other Baltic states, it declared its independence. The Soviet Union recognized independence for Estonia and the other Baltic states on September 6, 1991, and United Nations membership followed shortly thereafter. Estonia sought integration with greater Europe and in 2004 joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). Compared with other European countries, Estonia has a large percentage of foreign-born residents and their children. Only about two-thirds of the population are ethnic Estonians. Russians are the most significant minority, comprising about one-fourth of the citizenry. (Prominent among other ethnic minorities are Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Finns.

+ Featured here is Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, on Tallinn Bay of the Gulf of Finland. A fortified settlement existed there from the late 1st millennium BCE until the 10th–11th century CE, and there was a town on the site in the 12th century. In 1219 it was captured by the Danes, who built a new fortress on Toompea hill. Trade flourished, especially after Tallinn joined the Hanseatic League in 1285. In 1346 it was sold to the Teutonic Knights, and on the dissolution of the order in 1561 it passed to Sweden. Peter I (the Great) captured Tallinn in 1710, and it remained a Russian city until it became the capital of independent Estonia from 1918 to 1940. The city was occupied by German forces from 1941 to 1944 and was severely damaged. Now a proud European capital, known for its historic architecture, the old city center of Tallinn was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997. The Museum of Estonian Architecture in Tallinn celebrates that -- and a number of other national architectural traditions, from the multipurpose barn dwellings, with their thatched roofs, a distinctive countryside feature to its many more modern structures. Tallinn is now lively but peaceful, very photogenic, and filled with lots of fascinating sights -- including ancient churches, medieval streetscapes, and noble merchants' houses.