Tallinn grew rich as a Hanseatic port, and its old town still shows the shape that trade gave it. The city is divided in two: the upper town on the limestone hill, where power resided, with its cathedral, castle and noble houses, and the lower town below, where merchants, guilds and craftsmen built the tall gabled houses, warehouses and churches that still line the lanes. Between them run stairways and gates, and above them stand the spires that identify the skyline from the sea. The medieval street pattern survives almost intact, which is what makes Tallinn one of the most complete northern European townscapes on screen. The episode follows the town through its architecture, its guild halls and merchant interiors, its town hall and market square, and through the seasonal life, snow, summer nights, festivals, that gives a small capital its distinctive character.
