Description of the attraction
Translated from Estonian, Toomemägi means “Dome Mountain”. However, this hill is not a mountain in the literal sense of the word. This is a spit that was formed from post-glacial deposits of sand and gravel. The height of the hill above sea level is 66 meters.
Many centuries ago, Toomemägi Hill was the center of an ancient settlement. Later, a castle was located here, which was the seat of the Tartu bishop. After the Northern War, the bastions of the castle lost their defensive significance. Some of the ruins were buried, some of the remaining materials were used to build houses. So, gradually, over the long history, the landscape of Toomemägi was formed: initially - thanks to nature, and then, over the centuries - to people. At that time, the hill was used by the locals as a pasture.
Toomemägi Hill, which in the 19th century began to be called in the German manner - Domberg, became a gift to the university from Emperor Paul I. The first rector of the university G. Parrot, director of the scientific library K. Morgenstern and university architect I. Krause decided to lay a park on the all comers and, in addition, locate some university buildings on its territory.
According to the idea, it was supposed to set up a park in the English style, with plantings close to the natural landscape. The first building was used to build a university rotunda, then the main university building and an observatory. In the surviving part of the ruins that remained from the Dome Cathedral, the university library was placed. The first trees were planted here under the guidance of the architect I. Krause in 1850. Most likely, the oldest trees of the park - deciduous trees and pines, which are more than 200 years old, date from this time.
On the territory of the park there are many monuments, as well as buildings of architectural and historical value: the Museum of the History of the University of Tartu, located in the building of the former Dome Cathedral; Angelic and Devil's bridges, old Anatomikum, observatory. On the Angel Bridge, which is Domberg's gate, there is an inscription, which in translation from Latin means: "Rest restores strength."
There is a Sacrificial Stone in the park, which is supposed to have survived from ancient times, when there was a sacred oak grove on Toomemägi. In it, Estonians, apparently, staged various cult ceremonies. The sacrificial stone is located on the site of a former pond with a grotto, which was here even before the beginning of the last century. This is reminded of the Bridge of Sighs, which leads to the Hill of Kisses. The grotto and the slide were made from the ruins of the corner tower of the city wall. Hill of Kisses is one of the favorite places for young people to walk. A custom has developed about this place, which has survived to this day from pre-war history. According to this custom, students' graduation balls ended with a walk to the Hill of Kisses.
The park includes Kassitoome - a former sand quarry, which is now landscaped. The park, together with Kassitoome, covers an area of 15.6 hectares, thus being the largest park in Tartu.
