Kiiu Tower Kida

Around 1517 the vassal Fabian von Tiesenhausen built a small round stone tower at Kiiu where his household could shelter from raids. Only one of its four floors was living space, with a fireplace, bed niche and latrine; the rest were for defense, pierced by gunports of eleven shapes. Restored in the 1970s, it is one of only two fully preserved tower houses in Estonia, along with Vao.

Built / first recorded

c. 1517–1520

Style

Late Gothic tower house

Condition

Restored

County

Harju County · Kuusalu

German name

Kida

Owners

• von Tiesenhausen1517

Good to know

• It is described as the smallest surviving medieval defensive building in the Baltic states.
• A wooden defensive gallery has been rebuilt around the upper floor.
• The walls are 1.8 m thick, yet the interior is only 4.3 m across.

Photos through time

Nearby