Tartu Püssirohukelder (Gunpowder Cellar)

Right on the slope of Toomemägi in Tartu, you will certainly find the Püssirohukelder (Gunpowder Cellar) of interest. Today a restaurant, it was used as a gunpowder cellar until 1809. It was built in 1767 in the moat that separated the bishop’s castle from its outer bailey. The bricks used for its construction were taken from the ruins of the medieval St. Mary’s Church and from the walls of the bishop’s fortress. The Tartu Gunpowder Cellar is unique for its exceptionally high ceiling.

Interesting to know: the Gunpowder Cellar also once belonged to the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of University of Tartu, which began conducting research there in 1896 on earthquakes and magnetic phenomena.

Tartu