Tallinn: scores of doors

Since my trip to Aldeburgh I’ve been thinking about the loveliness of the painted buildings there. I didn’t photograph the best ones because I was so cold, but the memorable thing was the intricate door frames and windows painted in surprising, contrasting colours to the walls. Pink and parcel-paper brown for example. So I was delighted to learn about a place where these architectural colour combinations are an actual, you know, thing.

I’d never heard of the medieval city of Tallinn until I read about it on Present & Correct’s wonderful blog. It’s in Estonia, and the old city is a World Heritage Site. One of the things it’s famous for is painted doors. Look.

The pictures above are collected together at Present & Correct, but a quick search online shows how many people have been fascinated by the colours and designs. Blogger Becky Higgins has even compiled her photographs of the doors into a collage that you can download and print for free.