Squares and markets
· Kesklinn
Hay Market
The Hay Market once occupied today’s Freedom Square, serving a city whose transport and labour depended on horses.
The Hay Market sold a commodity that kept the whole city moving. Hay fed the horses that carried people, goods and building materials and supported postal and military transport. Market days brought loaded carts, animals, dust and the danger of fire to the edge of town. The same ground later became a ceremonial square with new political meanings. Its earlier history reveals a practical and noisy working landscape beneath today’s paving.
Practical information
Address: Vabaduse väljak
Look across the square from Harju Street or St John’s Church. Replace the stone surface in your imagination with hay carts, horses and a busy edge-of-town market.