This former KGB headquarters and prison, known as the ‘Grey House’, was donated to Tartu City Museum by the family to which they were returned after the Soviet era. Chilling in parts, the museum has created a highly worthwhile exhibition covering deportations, life in the gulags, the Estonian resistance, and what went on here. Guided tours are €20 extra. Temporary exhibitions visit, and occasional 'Dark Nights' show how terrifying the cells could be.
KGB Cells Museum
Contact
Address
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
0.51 MILES
Atop Toomemägi are the ruins of a Gothic cathedral, built in the 13th century by the knights of the Livonian Order after driving the pagan Estonians from…
-
0.27 MILES
A treat for word nerds, design hounds and print junkies alike, this interactive museum focuses on the history of printing and paper-making. Machinery from…
-
1.75 MILES
This immense, low-slung, glass-clad building is arresting – both Estonians and architecture lovers purred when it opened in late 2016. The permanent…
-
0.38 MILES
Built as part of Tartu University in 1810, this intriguing observatory on Toomemägi is a must for fans of astronomy and the history of scientific…
-
0.53 MILES
If you've been socialising in Tartu's pubs and can't really see straight, don’t use this building to anchor your eye. Subsidence caused by the nearby…
-
0.24 MILES
Aparaaditehas (the Widget Factory) is an old 14,000-sq-metre Soviet-era industrial complex where refrigeration equipment and secret submarine parts were…
-
22.01 MILES
This museum is spread over an 18th-century parish clerk's house and focuses on the life of rural schoolchildren in 19th-century Estonia; the schoolhouse…
-
24.64 MILES
According to legend, 3.5km-long, 8.5m-deep Pühajärv (Holy Lake) was formed from the tears of the mothers who lost their sons in a battle of the Kalevipoeg…
Nearby attractions
0.04 MILES
In 1990 this metallic monument was erected near the KGB headquarters in memory of the victims of Soviet repression; the blue cornflower is Estonia’s…
0.24 MILES
Aparaaditehas (the Widget Factory) is an old 14,000-sq-metre Soviet-era industrial complex where refrigeration equipment and secret submarine parts were…
3. Estonian Print & Paper Museum
0.27 MILES
A treat for word nerds, design hounds and print junkies alike, this interactive museum focuses on the history of printing and paper-making. Machinery from…
0.38 MILES
Built as part of Tartu University in 1810, this intriguing observatory on Toomemägi is a must for fans of astronomy and the history of scientific…
0.47 MILES
Built between 1782 and 1789, this graceful building was designed by German architect JHB Walter, who modelled it on a typical Dutch town hall. The clear…
0.48 MILES
Tartu’s main square is lined with grand buildings and echoes with the chink of glasses and plates in summer. The centrepiece is the town hall itself,…
0.51 MILES
Atop Toomemägi are the ruins of a Gothic cathedral, built in the 13th century by the knights of the Livonian Order after driving the pagan Estonians from…