Tartu, Estonia

Tartu sits on the Emajõgi River as Estonia's second-largest city, with around 95,000 residents. The University of Tartu, founded in 1632 by Swedish King Gustav II Adolf, anchors the city and earned it the title of European Capital of Culture for 2024. On Town Hall Square, the 1998 Kissing Students fountain faces the leaning pink Jaani kirik, which holds a unique collection of 15th-century terracotta sculptures. The original fortified hill, Toomemägi, rises above the old town and still carries the university observatory and anatomical theatre.