300 years ago, in a corner of Old Town, was a popular hotel well known throughout the region. In the dead of winter, when visitors were rare, a mysterious traveler came to stay in the hotel’s penthouse suite.

Several hours after checking in, continuous loud noise began to radiate from the room. Annoyed, the hotel owner sent his bellhop up to ask the guest to quite down. The bellhop didn’t return. Next, the owner sent his desk clerk to check on the situation. She failed to return as well but the noise continued.

Convinced that the guest was throwing some sort of party, the owner himself ascended the stairs to the penthouse. He crouched down, peered through the keyhole and saw…the devil!


The entire street was evacuated and the town was in an uproar. The following morning the water level in the town wells had dropped to ¼ the normal level.

In that time, mysticism was a common belief and the town people were certain the water issue was the work of the devil. They decided that a sacrifice was in order and proceeded to round up and drown all town’s cats in the well closest to the hotel.

All the sacrifice accomplished was to poison the remaining water, causing widespread suffering.

Many wanted the hotel to be condemned and destroyed, but the owner protested. A compromise was reached to allow it to remain standing if the room was bricked up on all sides and never opened again.


And so the hotel still stands today (though now it’s a Chinese restaurant) with the penthouse suite bricked up. It’s in the upper left-hand corner of the hotel – a window with curtains is painted over the brick.

The well, just a stone’s throw from the hotel entrance, is the only well left in Old Town. The city of Tallinn actually has a law that, to this day, prohibits the hotel room from being unsealed.

Across town, high above the buildings, perched daintily on a chimney-top is a statue of a cat. A tribute (and some form of apology) to the all the cats that were needlessly sacrificed.

All over Tallinn can be seen graffiti images of cats – modern references to an old tale.