The Great Guild

The Great Guild, in Tallinn

The Great Guild is one of the finest buildings of Pikk Street, former seat of the powerful guild of the merchants of Tallinn. The Tallinn audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this remarkable Gothic building, today a museum, a witness of the Hanseatic prosperity of the town.

The seat of the guild of the merchants

Of all the charming buildings that compose Pikk Street, the Great Guild has no difficulty standing out, beginning with its imposing Gothic façade, its great adorned door and its careful windows. This building was, from the Middle Ages, the seat of the Great Guild of Tallinn, the most powerful and most prestigious association of the town: the one that gathered the rich merchants, masters of the trade of the Hanseatic town. To belong to this guild, you had to fulfil strict conditions of fortune and status, and its members formed the ruling elite of Tallinn. The building, with its vast ceremonial hall with Gothic vaults, hosted the meetings, the banquets, the feasts and the ceremonies of this brotherhood, and symbolised its economic power. It testifies to the very structured organisation of the towns of the Hansa, where the guilds played a central role. Today, the Great Guild shelters a museum devoted to the history of Estonia. A Gothic jewel and a witness of the merchant power, the Great Guild is a fine stop of the discovery of Tallinn.

What to see

You admire the imposing Gothic building of Pikk Street, with the great adorned door, former seat of the Great Guild, the most powerful association of the town that gathered the rich merchants and the ruling elite of the Hanseatic town; its vast ceremonial hall with Gothic vaults hosted meetings and banquets, and it today shelters a museum of history of Estonia. The Great Guild is a Gothic jewel of Tallinn. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Great Guild lies on Pikk Street, in the lower town of Tallinn, reachable on foot. Become a museum, it can be visited according to its own hours and conditions, which vary; you also admire its Gothic façade from the street. It is best to check them before coming.

What was the Great Guild of Tallinn?

The most powerful and most prestigious association of the town, which gathered the rich merchants and formed the ruling elite of the Hanseatic town; its seat, an imposing Gothic building of Pikk Street with a vast ceremonial hall, hosted meetings and banquets, and today shelters a museum of history of Estonia.

Where is the Great Guild in Tallinn?

On Pikk Street, in the lower town of Tallinn, in Estonia.