“Fat Margaret” is a cannon tower built in 1530 to guard the town’s main entrance on the north side (facing the harbor). It has a diameter of 24 meters and walls 4.7 meters thick.
Since a gate is located right next to it, I also included it in the card. The gate is called
Suure Rannavärava eesvärav in Estonian, which apparently means “Great Coastal Gate”. Around the 16th century, the distance from the gate to the coast was only about 100 meters.
The tower was later used as a warehouse, barracks, and prison. It is said that the tower’s nickname likely originated from a woman named Margaret who served meals to prisoners during its time as a prison. This nickname came into use in the 19th century.
The tower was destroyed by fire during the Russian Revolution and fell into ruin, but it was later restored and has served as the Estonian Maritime Museum since 1981.
The rooftop is now a plaza with a café, but it appears to have once been covered by a gently sloping conical roof.
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