Jaunted

Estonia / tourist attractions / → All Tags

Putting Students in their Place: The Clink

The southern Estonian town of Tartu is a good stopover if you're doing a Baltic city hop, lying as it does mid-way between Tallinn and Latvia's Riga. It's a university town with all the young people's trappings that go with it, but be on your guard at Tartu University. It's the home to a long-used Student Lock-Up--fortunately now only a tourist attraction.

In previous centuries misbehaving students got locked up here for hours, days or weeks at a time, depending on the seriousness of their crime. Turning up late for class too often gave them just a couple of hours of captive time--still enough though to contribute to the artwork and poetry inscribed in the ceiling and walls. But not returning your library books on time could score you two days lock-up just for a first offence. Talk about tough love.

[Image via jbelluch/Flickr]

Related stories:
Web Cams in Tartu [Tartu City Government]