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Castrum Danorum
 
 
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Toompea Castle (also Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
:Castrum Danorum, ; (previously probably) Taani linn, literally "The Danish castle") is a castle
Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
 on the limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 hill
Hill

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, in a limited area. Hills often have a distinct Summit , although in areas with Escarpment a hill may refer to a particular section of scarp slope without a well-defined summit ....
 of Toompea
Toompea

Toompea is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is about 20-30 meters higher than the city around it and covers an area of about 400 by 250 meters....
 in the central part of Tallinn
Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city in the Republic of Estonia and of Harju County. It occupies a surface of 159.2 km? in which 397,617 inhabitants live....
, the capital of Estonia
Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....
, which for a time was also one of the names for the whole settlement of Tallinn during the times of Danish Estonia
Danish Estonia

Danish Estonia refers to the territories of present-day Estonia that were ruled by Denmark firstly during the 13th-14th centuries and again in the 16th-17th centuries....
 in the 13th and 14th centuries.

The first wooden castle (in some Finnic
Finnic

Finnic can refer to:* Finnic languages* Finnic peoples Adding long comment tag to protect...
 sources referred to as Kesoniemi), it is believed to have been built on the hill in either the 10th or 11th century by residents of the ancient Estonian county of Rävala (Revalia).






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Toompea Castle (also Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
:Castrum Danorum, ; (previously probably) Taani linn, literally "The Danish castle") is a castle
Castle

A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. The term has a history of scholarly debate surrounding its exact meaning, but it is usually regarded as being distinct from the general terms fort or fortress in that it describes a residence of a monarch or noble and commands a specific defensive territor...
 on the limestone
Limestone

File:Limestone Formation In Waitomo.jpgLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geology record....
 hill
Hill

A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain, in a limited area. Hills often have a distinct Summit , although in areas with Escarpment a hill may refer to a particular section of scarp slope without a well-defined summit ....
 of Toompea
Toompea

Toompea is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It is about 20-30 meters higher than the city around it and covers an area of about 400 by 250 meters....
 in the central part of Tallinn
Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city in the Republic of Estonia and of Harju County. It occupies a surface of 159.2 km? in which 397,617 inhabitants live....
, the capital of Estonia
Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....
, which for a time was also one of the names for the whole settlement of Tallinn during the times of Danish Estonia
Danish Estonia

Danish Estonia refers to the territories of present-day Estonia that were ruled by Denmark firstly during the 13th-14th centuries and again in the 16th-17th centuries....
 in the 13th and 14th centuries.

The first wooden castle (in some Finnic
Finnic

Finnic can refer to:* Finnic languages* Finnic peoples Adding long comment tag to protect...
 sources referred to as Kesoniemi), it is believed to have been built on the hill in either the 10th or 11th century by residents of the ancient Estonian county of Rävala (Revalia). It was probably one of the first inhabited areas of what later became Tallinn.

In 1219, the castle was taken over by Danish
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
 crusaders
Northern Crusades

The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were crusades undertaken by the Roman Catholic Church kings of Denmark and Sweden, the German Livonian Brothers of the Sword and Teutonic Knights military orders, and their allies against the paganism peoples of Northern Europe around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea....
 - led by Valdemar II. According to a legend very popular among Danes, the very first flag of Denmark
Flag of Denmark

File:Flag of Denmark.svgFile:Dannebrog.jpgThe national flag of Denmark, Dannebrog, is red with a white Nordic Cross Flag that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side....
 (Dannebrog) fell from the sky during a critical stage of the Battle of Lyndanisse
Battle of Lyndanisse

The Battle of Lyndanisse took place on June 15, 1219.Under pretext of helping the Crusades in Palestine, the Danish king Valdemar II Sejr defeated the Estonians at Lyndanisse under orders from the Pope....
, fought near the castle, resulting in Danish victory over Estonians.

The Danes then started to refer to Lyndanisse as Castrum Danorum ("Castle of the Danes"). According to one hypothesis, the name then translated into the old Estonian language
Estonian language

Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various ?migr? communities....
 as Taani(n) linna, and later abbreviated into "Tallinn".

The much-rebuilt Toompea Castle, topped by the Pikk Hermann
Pikk Hermann

Pikk Hermann is a tower of the Toompea Castle, on Toompea hill in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The first part was built 1360-70. It was rebuilt in the 16th century....
 tower, still dominates Toompea today. It houses the Parliament of Estonia. Other sights in the vicinity of Toompea Castle include the Russian Orthodox cathedral dedicated to Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is an Eastern Orthodox Church Church in the Tallinn Old Town, Estonia. It was built to a design by Mikhail Preobrazhensky in a typical Russian Revival style between 1894 and 1900, during the period when the country was part of the Russian Empire....
, which was completed in 1900 and now partially overtops the castle.