An Estonian stronghold stood on the hill from at least the 9th century. Danish crusaders took it in 1219, and the Brethren of the Sword began rebuilding it from 1227. It passed to the Teutonic Order in 1346. The infobox gives completion in the 14th and 16th centuries, which the text does not explain.
Teutonic features included a chapel, chapter house, knights' dormitory and several towers. The tallest, Tall Hermann, is 157 feet (48 m) high. After Russia took the territory in 1710, the complex became a palace, and Johann Schultz designed the eastern wing in Baroque and Neoclassical style.
Eugen Habermann and Herbert Johanson designed the parliament building, completed in 1922 after two years of work. It has a traditionalist exterior and an Expressionist interior, described as the world's only Expressionist parliament building. The castle houses the Riigikogu, and the national flag is raised there at sunrise.
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