The Museum and Visitor Centre of Fat Margaret

Towering tales of the sea!

The Museum and Visitor Centre of Fat Margaret allows visitors to embark on a journey in a UNESCO World Heritage complex, which includes a medieval shipwreck, an impressive collection of ship models, and exciting interactive objects. An adventurous all-ages exhibition tells the story of local seafaring from the Middle Ages to the present day.

A large part of the traffic between the port and the city of Tallinn, which belonged to the Hanseatic League, passed through the Great Coastal Gate (Suur Rannavärav), and therefore Fat Margaret Tower is the best place to embark on a journey into the history of Estonia as a maritime country. Nearly 700 historical objects, the maritime museum’s rich collection of ship models, and nearly 50 digital and interactive objects tell the story of the maritime nation.

The star object of the museum and visitor center is a nearly 20-meter-long koge wreck, an old style of vessel with a specific shape. The koge, which was found in Tallinn in 2015, was a rare discovery in Europe as the hull of the ship was almost completely preserved and nearly 700 other nearby findings from the spot tell us the story of why, how, and where the ship and its crew sailed.

In the museum and visitor center, you can also get an overview of the ships that brought goods from distant destinations and led to the discovery of new lands. In the steamship hall, you can see ship models made by model makers from Estonia, the Åland islands, and England. The engine ship floor displays the most important models of Estonian cargo, passenger, and fishing ships. The entire exposition is made more exciting by numerous digital presentations.

In 2020, the permanent exhibition Towering Tales of the Sea! was recognized with the annual Estonian museums award.