What follows is an eclectic tribute to Tallinn’s Central Market (Keskturg)—a place where the criminal and corrupt shadow of a murky past intertwines with everyday market news and daily gossip about potatoes, sugar, and coffee.
Originally, the redevelopment of the Central Market—more precisely, its replacement with a small market square and a residential area with 280 apartments—was supposed to begin in 2025.* When that news broke about two years ago, there was already grief, even as the market was still pulsating in the heart of the city.
Each time I visit now, I notice more and more of eye-catching and soul-enriching diversity of this self-organised space that has so far escaped the fatal cut of gentrification. There is still time to have gratitude for this parallel universe—its handmade signs, customised stools, unbelievable shop windows, and, of course, its delicious pickles and greasy pies. And the people! The lady behind the counter surely knows better than you what you would like. Prices are flexible, scales are ‘roughly accurate’, and there is always some vendor offering something you never knew you needed—Ukrainian honey, Georgian persimmons, or a mystical knife that ‘can even cut water’.
Museum of Estonian Architecture.
This is precisely why you should go there right now, before all that market bustle subsides and one more public place gives way to yet another apartment complex with sleek façades and a tamed sparrow sculpture. Hurry, while the Central Market still breathes and trades in its own unique and organic way.
*As of today, construction will begin in 2027.
MARGIT SÄDE is a bricoleur, curator, and one of the initiators of Logi Sauna.
HEADER: The clippings in the collage on the previous page are from Äripäev, Eesti Päevaleht, and Sõnumileht from the years 1998-2000.
PUBLISHED: MAJA 3/4-2025 (121-122), with main topic WORK AND FOOD
