title: Elia Kazan

text: Kazan was married three times. His first wife was playwright Molly Day Thacher. They were married from 1932 until her death in 1963; this marriage produced two daughters and two sons, including screenwriter Nicholas Kazan. His second marriage, to the actress Barbara Loden, lasted from 1967 until her death in 1980, and produced one son. His marriage, in 1982, to Frances Rudge continued until his death, in 2003, aged 94.


title: Elia Kazan

text: In the early 1930s, Kazan and his wife moved into an 1885 farmhouse in Sandy Hook, Connecticut where they raised their four children. They continued to use the property as a summer and weekend retreat until 1998 when the property was put up for sale.


title: Elia Kazan

text: In 1978, the U.S. government paid for Kazan and his family to travel to Kazan's birthplace where many of his films were to be shown. During a speech in Athens, he discussed his films and his personal and business life in the U.S., along with the messages he tried to convey:


title: Elia Kazan

text: In 2017, Anglo-Irish actress and author Carol Drinkwater accused Kazan of sexual harassment and attempted rape which she alleges to have occurred in 1975 when she was under consideration for a part in Kazan's film "The Last Tycoon".


title: Elia Kazan

text: In addition to these awards, Kazan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which is located on 6800 Hollywood Boulevard. He is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame.


title: Elia Kazan

text: Kazan became known as an "actor's director" because he was able to elicit some of the best performances in the careers of many of his stars. Under his direction, his actors received 24 Academy Award nominations and won nine Oscars.


title: Elia Kazan

text: He won as Best Director for "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947) and for "On the Waterfront" (1954). Both "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951) and "On the Waterfront" were nominated for twelve Academy Awards, respectively winning four and eight.


title: Elia Kazan

text: With his many years with the Group Theatre and Actors Studio in New York City and later triumphs on Broadway, he became famous "for the power and intensity of his actors' performances". He was the pivotal figure in launching the film careers of Marlon Brando, James Dean, Julie Harris, Eli Wallach, Eva Marie Saint, Warren Beatty, Lee Remick, Karl Malden, and many others. Seven of Kazan's films won a total of 20 Academy Awards. Dustin Hoffman commented that he "doubted whether he, Robert De Niro, or Al Pacino, would have become actors without Mr. Kazan's influence."


title: Elia Kazan

text: Upon his death, at the age of 94, "The New York Times" described him as "one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history". "Death of a Salesman" and "A Streetcar Named Desire", two plays he directed, are considered to be some of the greatest of the 20th century. Although he became a respected director on Broadway, he made an equally impressive transition into one of the major film directors of his time. Critic William Baer notes that throughout his career "he constantly rose to the challenge of his own aspirations", adding that "he was a pioneer and visionary who greatly affected the history of both stage and cinema". Certain of his film-related material and personal papers are contained in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives to which scholars and media experts from around the world may have full access.


title: Elia Kazan

text: His controversial stand during his testimony in front of the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA) in 1952 became the low point in his career, although he remained convinced that he made the right decision to give the names of Communist Party members. He stated in an interview in 1976 that "I would rather do what I did than crawl in front of a ritualistic Left and lie the way those other comrades did, and betray my own soul. I didn't betray it. I made a difficult decision."


title: Elia Kazan

text: During his career, Kazan won both Tony and Oscar Awards for directing on stage and screen. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan presented him with the Kennedy Center honors award, a national tribute for lifetime achievement in the arts. At the ceremony, screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who wrote "On the Waterfront", thanked his lifelong friend saying, "Elia Kazan has touched us all with his capacity to honor not only the heroic man, but the hero in every man."


title: Elia Kazan

text: In 1999, at the 71st Academy Awards, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro presented the Honorary Oscar to Kazan. This would be a controversial pick for the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences due to Kazan's history regarding his involvement with the Hollywood Blacklist in the 1950s. Several members of the audience including Nick Nolte and Ed Harris refused to applaud Kazan when he received the award while others such as Warren Beatty, Meryl Streep, Kathy Bates, and Kurt Russell gave him a standing ovation.


title: Elia Kazan

text: Martin Scorsese directed a film documentary, "A Letter to Elia" (2010), considered to be an "intensely personal and deeply moving tribute" to Kazan. Scorsese was "captivated" by Kazan's films as a young man, and the documentary mirrors his own life story while he also credits Kazan as the inspiration for his becoming a filmmaker. It won a Peabody Award in 2010.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Grammy Award winner and three-time Academy Award winner, Bacharach's songs have been recorded by more than 1,000 different artists. , he had written 73 US and 52 UK Top 40 hits. He is considered one of the most important composers of 20th-century popular music.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: His music is characterized by unusual chord progressions, influenced by his background in jazz harmony, and uncommon selections of instruments for small orchestras. Most of Bacharach and David's hits were written specifically for and performed by Dionne Warwick but earlier associations (from 1957 to 1963) saw the composing duo work with Marty Robbins, Perry Como, Gene McDaniels and Jerry Butler. Following the initial success of these collaborations, Bacharach went on to write hits for Gene Pitney, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield, Jackie DeShannon, Bobbie Gentry, Tom Jones, Herb Alpert, B. J. Thomas, and the Carpenters, among numerous other artists. He arranged, conducted, and produced much of his recorded output.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Songs that he co-wrote which have topped the "Billboard" Hot 100 include "This Guy's in Love with You" (1968), "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" (1969), "(They Long to Be) Close to You" (1970), "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (1981), and "That's What Friends Are For" (1986).


title: Burt Bacharach

text: A significant figure in easy listening music, Bacharach is described by writer William Farina as "a composer whose venerable name can be linked with just about every other prominent musical artist of his era". In later years, his songs were newly appropriated for the soundtracks of major feature films, by which time "tributes, compilations, and revivals were to be found everywhere". He has been noted for his influence on later musical movements such as chamber pop and Shibuya-kei. In 2015, "Rolling Stone" ranked Bacharach and David at number 32 for their list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time. In 2012, the duo received the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, the first time the honor has been given to a songwriting team. As a sign of his significance in popular culture in 1994 the rock band Oasis had a portrait of Bacharach placed on the floor on the front cover of their famous debut album Definitely Maybe. Chief songwriter Noel Gallagher claimed he wanted Bacharach on the front cover as he was one of his all time favourite songwriters.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in the Kew Gardens section of New York City, graduating from Forest Hills High School in 1946. He is the son of Irma M. (née Freeman) and Mark Bertram "Bert" Bacharach, a well-known syndicated newspaper columnist. His mother was an amateur painter and songwriter who was responsible for making Bacharach learn piano during his childhood. His family was Jewish, but he says that they did not practice or give much attention to their religion. "But the kids I knew were Catholic," he adds. "I was Jewish but I didn't want anybody to know about it."


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach showed a keen interest in jazz as a teenager, disliking his classical piano lessons, and often used a fake ID to gain admission into 52nd Street nightclubs. He got to hear bebop musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie, whose style would later influence his songwriting.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach studied music (Bachelor of Music, 1948) at Montreal's McGill University, under Helmut Blume, at the Mannes School of Music, and at the Music Academy of the West in Montecito, California. During this period he studied a range of music, including jazz harmony, which has since been important to songs which are generally considered pop music. His composition teachers included Darius Milhaud, Henry Cowell, and Bohuslav Martinů. Bacharach cites Milhaud as his biggest influence, under whose guidance he wrote a "Sonatina for Violin, Oboe and Piano."


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach was drafted into the United States Army in 1950 and served for two years. He was stationed in Germany and played piano in officers' clubs there, and at Fort Dix and Governors Island. During this time, he arranged and played music for dance bands.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach met the popular singer Vic Damone while they were both serving in the army in Germany. Following his discharge, Bacharach spent the next three years as a pianist and conductor for Damone. Damone recalls: "Burt was clearly bound to go out on his own. He was an exceptionally talented, classically trained pianist, with very clear ideas on the musicality of songs, how they should be played, and what they should sound like. I appreciated his musical gifts." He later worked in similar capacity for various other singers, including Polly Bergen, Steve Lawrence, the Ames Brothers and Paula Stewart (who became his first wife). When he was unable to find better jobs, Bacharach worked at resorts in the Catskill Mountains of New York, where he accompanied singers such as Joel Grey.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 1956, at the age of 28, Bacharach's productivity increased when composer Peter Matz recommended him to Marlene Dietrich, who needed an arranger and conductor for her nightclub shows. He then became part-time music director for Dietrich, the actress and singer who had been an international screen star in the 1930s. They toured worldwide off and on until the early 1960s; when they were not touring, he wrote songs. As a result of his collaboration with Dietrich, he gained his first major recognition as a conductor and arranger.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In her autobiography, Dietrich wrote that Bacharach loved touring in Russia and Poland because the violinists were "extraordinary", and musicians were greatly appreciated by the public. He liked Edinburgh and Paris, along with the Scandinavian countries, and "he also felt at home in Israel", she wrote, where music was similarly "much revered". Their working relationship ceased by the early 1960s, after about five years with Dietrich, with Bacharach telling her that he wanted to devote himself full-time to songwriting. She thought of her time with him as "seventh heaven ... As a man, he embodied everything a woman could wish for. ... How many such men are there? For me he was the only one."


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 1957, Bacharach and lyricist Hal David met while at the Brill Building in New York City, and began their writing partnership. They received a career breakthrough when their song "The Story of My Life" was recorded by Marty Robbins, becoming a number 1 hit on the U.S. Country Chart in 1957.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Soon afterwards, "Magic Moments" was recorded by Perry Como for RCA Records, and reached No. 4 in the U.S. These two songs were back-to-back No. 1 singles in the UK (the British chart-topping "The Story of My Life" version was sung by Michael Holliday), giving Bacharach and David the honor of being the first songwriters to have written consecutive No. 1 UK singles.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Despite Bacharach's early success with Hal David, he spent several years in the early 1960s writing songs with other lyricists, primarily Bob Hilliard. Some of the more successful Bacharach-Hilliard songs include “Please Stay” (The Drifters, 1961), “Tower of Strength” (Gene McDaniels, 1961), “Any Day Now (My Wild Beautiful Bird)” (Chuck Jackson, 1962), and “Mexican Divorce” (The Drifters, 1962). In 1961 Bacharach was credited as arranger and producer, for the first time on both label and sleeve, for the song "Three Wheels on My Wagon", written jointly with Hilliard for Dick Van Dyke.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach and David formed a writing partnership in 1963. Bacharach's career received a boost when singer Jerry Butler asked to record "Make it Easy on Yourself", and wanted him to direct the recording sessions. It became the first time he managed the entire recording process for one of his own songs.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In the early and mid-1960s, Bacharach wrote well over a hundred songs with David. In 1961 Bacharach discovered singer Dionne Warwick while she was a session accompanist. That year the two, along with Dionne's sister Dee Dee Warwick, released a single "Move It on the Backbeat" under the name Burt and the Backbeats. The lyrics for this Bacharach composition were provided by Hal David's brother Mack David. Dionne made her professional recording debut the following year with her first hit, "Don't Make Me Over".


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach and David then wrote more songs to make use of Warwick's singing talents, which led to one of the most successful teams in popular music history. Over the next 20 years, Warwick's recordings of his songs sold over 12 million copies, with 38 singles making the charts and 22 in the Top 40. Among the hits were "Walk on By", "Anyone Who Had a Heart", "Alfie", "I Say a Little Prayer", "I'll Never Fall in Love Again", and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" She would eventually have more hits during her career than any other female vocalist except Aretha Franklin.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach released his first solo album in 1965 on the Kapp Records label. "Hit Maker! Burt Bacharach Plays His Hits" was largely ignored in the US but rose to No. 3 on the UK album charts, where his version of "Trains and Boats and Planes" had become a top 5 single. In 1967, Bacharach signed as an artist with A&M Records, recording a mix of new material and re-arrangements of his best-known songs. He recorded for A&M until 1978.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Although Bacharach's compositions are typically more complex than the average pop song, he has expressed surprise in the fact that many jazz musicians have sought inspiration from his works, saying "I've sometimes felt that my songs are restrictive for a jazz artist. I was excited when [Stan] Getz did a whole album of my music" ("What The World Needs Now: Stan Getz Plays The Burt Bacharach Songbook", Verve, 1968).


title: Burt Bacharach

text: His songs were adapted by a few jazz artists of the time, such as Stan Getz, Cal Tjader, Grant Green, and Wes Montgomery. The Bacharach/David composition "My Little Red Book", originally recorded by Manfred Mann for the film "What's New Pussycat?", has become a rock standard.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach composed and arranged the soundtrack of the 1967 film "Casino Royale," which included "The Look of Love", performed by Dusty Springfield, and the title song, an instrumental Top 40 single for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. The resulting soundtrack album is widely considered to be one of the finest engineered vinyl recordings of all time, and is much sought after by audiophile collectors.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach and David also collaborated with Broadway producer David Merrick on the 1968 musical "Promises, Promises", which yielded two hits, including the title tune and "I'll Never Fall in Love Again". Bacharach and David wrote the song when the producer realized the play urgently needed another before its opening the next evening. Bacharach, who had just been released from the hospital after contracting pneumonia, was still sick, but worked with David's lyrics to write the song which was performed for the show's opening. It was later recorded by Dionne Warwick and was on the charts for several weeks.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: The year 1969 marked, perhaps, the most successful Bacharach-David collaboration, the Oscar-winning "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head", written for and prominently featured in the acclaimed film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". The two were awarded a Grammy for Best Cast album of the year for "Promises, Promises" and the score was also nominated for a Tony award.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Other Oscar nominations for Best Song in the latter half of the 1960s were for "The Look Of Love", "What's New Pussycat?" and "Alfie".


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, Bacharach continued to write and produce for artists, compose for stage, TV, and film, and release his own albums. He enjoyed a great deal of visibility in the public spotlight, appearing frequently on TV and performing live in concert. He starred in two televised musical extravaganzas: "An Evening with Burt Bacharach" and "Another Evening with Burt Bacharach", both broadcast nationally on NBC. "Newsweek" magazine gave him a lengthy cover story entitled "The Music Man 1970".


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 1971, Barbra Streisand appeared on "The Burt Bacharach Special", (aka "Singer Presents Burt Bacharach") where they discussed their careers and favorite songs and performed songs together. The other guests on the television special were dancer Rudolph Nureyev and singer Tom Jones.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 1973, Bacharach and David wrote the score for "Lost Horizon", a musical version of the 1937 film. The remake was a critical and commercial disaster and a flurry of lawsuits resulted between the composer and the lyricist, as well as from Warwick. She reportedly felt abandoned when Bacharach and David refused to work together further.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach tried several solo projects, including the 1977 album "Futures", but the projects failed to yield hits. He and David reunited briefly in 1975 to write and produce Stephanie Mills' second album, "For The First Time", for Motown.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: By the early 1980s, Bacharach's marriage to Angie Dickinson had ended, but a new partnership with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager proved rewarding, both commercially and personally. The two married and collaborated on several major hits during the decade, including "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)" (Christopher Cross), co-written with Cross and Peter Allen, which won an Academy Award for Best Song; "Heartlight" (Neil Diamond); "Making Love" (Roberta Flack); "On My Own" (Patti LaBelle with Michael McDonald.)


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Another of their hits, "That's What Friends Are For" in 1985, reunited Bacharach and Warwick. When asked about their coming together again, she explained:


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Other artists continued to revive Bacharach's earlier hits in the 1980s and 1990s. Examples included Luther Vandross' recording of "A House is Not a Home"; Naked Eyes' 1983 pop hit version of "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me", and Ronnie Milsap's 1982 country version of "Any Day Now". Bacharach continued a concert career, appearing at auditoriums throughout the world, often with large orchestras. He occasionally joined Warwick for sold-out concerts in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and New York, where they performed at the Rainbow Room in 1996.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 1998, Bacharach co-wrote and recorded a Grammy-winning album with Elvis Costello, "Painted from Memory", on which the compositions began to take on the sound of his earlier work. The duo later reunited for Costello's 2018 album, "Look Now", working on several tracks together.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 2003, he teamed with singer Ronald Isley to release the album "Here I Am", which revisited a number of his 1960s compositions in Isley's signature R&B style. Bacharach's 2005 solo album "At This Time" was a departure from past works in that Bacharach penned his own lyrics, some of which dealt with political themes. Guest stars on the album included Elvis Costello, Rufus Wainwright, and hip-hop producer Dr. Dre.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 2008, Bacharach opened the BBC Electric Proms at The Roundhouse in London, performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra accompanied by guest vocalists Adele, Beth Rowley and Jamie Cullum. The concert was a retrospective look back at his six-decade career. In early 2009, Bacharach worked with Italian soul singer Karima Ammar and produced her debut single "Come In Ogni Ora".


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In June 2015, Bacharach performed in the UK at the Glastonbury Festival, and a few weeks later appeared on stage at the Menier Chocolate Factory to launch 'What's It All About? Bacharach Reimagined', a 90-minute live arrangement of his hits.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 2016, Bacharach, at 88 years old, composed and arranged his first original score in 16 years for the film "A Boy Called Po" (along with composer Joseph Bauer). The score was released on September 1, 2017. The entire 30-minute score was recorded in just two days at Capitol Studios. The theme song, "Dancing With Your Shadow", was composed by Bacharach, with lyrics by Billy Mann, and performed by Sheryl Crow. After seeing the film, a true story about a child with autism, Bacharach decided he wanted to write a score for it, as well as a theme song, in tribute to his daughter Nikki — who had gone undiagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and who committed suicide at the age of 40. "It touched me very much," the composer says. "I had gone through this with Nikki. Sometimes you do things that make you feel. It's not about money or rewards."


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Though not known for political songs, "Live To See Another Day" was released in 2018. "Dedicated to survivors of school gun violence" proceeds for the release went to charity Sandy Hook Promise, a non-profit organization founded and led by several family members whose loved ones were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. A co-write with Rudy Pérez it also featured the Miami Symphony Orchestra.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In July 2020, Bacharach collaborated with songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Tashian on the EP "Blue Umbrella", Bacharach's first new material in 15 years. The EP earned both Bacharach and Tashian a Grammy Award nomination for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Bacharach was featured in a dozen television musical and variety specials videotaped in the UK for ITC; several were nominated for Emmy Awards for direction (by Dwight Hemion). The guests included artists such as Joel Grey, Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, and Barbra Streisand. Bacharach and David did the score for an original musical for ABC-TV titled "On the Flip Side", broadcast on "ABC Stage 67", starring Ricky Nelson as a faded pop star trying for a comeback. While the ratings were dismal, the soundtrack showcased Bacharach's abilities to try different kinds of musical styles, ranging from (almost) 1960s rock, to pop, ballads, and Latin-tinged dance numbers.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In 1969, Harry Betts arranged Bacharach's instrumental composition "Nikki" (named for Bacharach's daughter) into a new theme for the "ABC Movie of the Week", a television series that ran on the U.S. network until 1976.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: During the 1970s, Bacharach and then-wife Angie Dickinson appeared in several television commercials for Martini & Rossi beverages, and Bacharach even penned a short jingle ("Say Yes") for the spots. He also occasionally appeared on television/variety shows, such as "The Merv Griffin Show", "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", and many others.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: In the 1990s and 2000s, Bacharach had cameo roles in Hollywood movies, including all three Austin Powers movies, inspired by his score for the 1967 James Bond parody film "Casino Royale".


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach appeared as a celebrity performer and guest vocal coach for contestants on the television show, "American Idol" during the 2006 season, during which an entire episode was dedicated to his music. In 2008, Bacharach featured in the BBC Electric Proms at The Roundhouse with the BBC Concert Orchestra. He performed similar shows in the same year at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and with the Sydney Symphony.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach's music is characterized by unusual chord progressions, influenced by jazz harmony, with striking syncopated rhythmic patterns, irregular phrasing, frequent modulation, and odd, changing meters. He arranged, conducted, and produced much of his recorded output. Though his style is sometimes called "easy listening", he has expressed apprehension regarding that label. According to "NJ.com" contributor Mark Voger, "It may be easy on the ears, but it's anything but easy. The precise arrangements, the on-a-dime shifts in meter, and the mouthfuls of lyrics required to service all those notes have, over the years, proven challenging to singers and musicians." Bacharach's selection of instruments included flugelhorns, bossa nova sidesticks, breezy flutes, tack piano, "molto fortissimo" strings and cooing female voices. According to editors of "The Mojo Collection", it led to what became known as the "Bacharach Sound". He explains:


title: Burt Bacharach

text: While he did not mind singing during live performances, he sought mostly to avoid it on records. When he did sing, he explains, "I [tried] to sing the songs not as a singer, but just interpreting it as a composer and interpreting a great lyric that Hal [David] wrote." When performing in front of live audiences, he would often conduct while playing piano, as he did during a televised performance on "The Hollywood Palace".


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach has been married four times. His first marriage was to Paula Stewart and lasted five years (1953–1958). His second marriage was to actress Angie Dickinson, lasting for 15 years (1965–1980). Bacharach and Dickinson had a daughter named Nikki Bacharach, who was autistic and took her own life on January 4, 2007, at the age of 40.


title: Burt Bacharach

text: Bacharach's third marriage was to lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, which lasted nine years (1982–1991). Bacharach and Bayer Sager collaborated on a number of musical pieces and adopted a son named Cristopher. This marriage is mentioned in Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life". Bacharach married his fourth wife, Jane Hanson, in 1993: they have two children, a son named Oliver and a daughter named Raleigh. His autobiography, "Anyone Who Had a Heart", was published in 2013.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju "maakond" (county). Tallinn is the main financial, industrial, and cultural centre of Estonia. It is located northwest of the country's second largest city Tartu, however only south of Helsinki, Finland, also west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, north of Riga, Latvia, and east of Stockholm, Sweden. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn was known in most of the world by variants of its other historical name Reval.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn received Lübeck city rights in 1248, however the earliest evidence of human population in the area dates back nearly 5,000 years. The medieval indigenous population of what is now Tallinn and northern Estonia was one of the last "pagan" civilisations in Europe to adopt Christianity following the Papal-sanctioned Livonian Crusade in the 13th century. The first recorded claim over the place was laid by Denmark after a successful raid in 1219 led by King Valdemar II, followed by a period of alternating Scandinavian and Teutonic rulers. Due to the strategic location by the sea, its medieval port became a significant trade hub, especially in the 14–16th centuries, when Tallinn grew in importance as the northernmost member city of the Hanseatic League. Tallinn Old Town is one of the best-preserved medieval cities in Europe and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn has the highest number of startup companies per person among all capitals and larger cities in Europe and is the birthplace of many international high-technology companies, including Skype, Bolt and Wise. The city is home to the headquarters of the European Union's IT agency, and to the NATO Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.


title: Tallinn

text: In 2007, Tallinn was listed among the top-10 digital cities in the world, and in 2022, Tallinn was listed among the top-10 "medium-sized European cities of the future".


title: Tallinn

text: In 1154, a town called ("Qlwn" or "Quwri") was recorded in the description of the world upon the world map ("Tabula Rogeriana") commissioned by the Norman King Roger II of Sicily and compiled by Arab cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi, who described it as "a small town like a large castle" among the towns of 'Astlanda'. It has been suggested that one possible transcription, 'Qlwn', may have denoted a predecessor of the modern city and may somehow be related to a toponym "Kolyvan", which has been discovered from later East Slavic chronicles. However, a number of modern historians have considered connecting any of al-Idrisi's placenames with modern Tallinn erroneous, unfounded, or speculative.


title: Tallinn

text: Henry of Livonia, in his chronicle (ca. 1229), called the town with the name that is also known to have been used up to the 13th century by Scandinavians: "Lindanisa" (or "Lyndanisse" in Danish, "Lindanäs" in Swedish and "Ledenets" in Old East Slavic).


title: Tallinn

text: The Icelandic "Njal's saga"—composed after 1270, but describing events between 960 and 1020—mentions an event that occurred somewhere in the area of Tallinn and calls the place "Rafala" (probably a derivation of "Rävala", "Revala", or some other variant of the Estonian name of the adjacent medieval Estonian county). Soon after the Danish conquest in 1219, the town became known in the Scandinavian and German languages as Reval (). "Reval" was in official use in Estonia until 1918.


title: Tallinn

text: The name Tallinn(a) is Estonian. It has been widely considered a historical derivation of "Taani-linna", meaning "Danish-castle" (), conceivably because the Danish invaders built the castle in place of the Estonian stronghold after the 1219 battle of Lyndanisse. The Finnic element "-linna", like Germanic "-burg" and Slavic "-grad" /"-gorod", originally meant "fortress", but has been used as a suffix in the formation of town names.


title: Tallinn

text: In international use, the English and German-language as well as the Russian analog "Revel" () were all gradually replaced by the Estonian name after the country became independent in 1918. At first, both Estonian forms, "Tallinna" and "Tallinn", were used. "Tallinna" in Estonian denotes also the genitive case of the name, as in "Tallinna Sadam" ('the Port of Tallinn').


title: Tallinn

text: The first archaeological traces of a small hunter-fisherman community's presence in what is now Tallinn's city centre are about 5,000 years old. The comb ceramic pottery found on the site dates to about 3000 BCE and corded ware pottery around 2500 BCE.


title: Tallinn

text: As an important port on a major trade route between Novgorod and western Europe, it became a target for the expansion of the Teutonic Knights and the Kingdom of Denmark during the period of Northern Crusades in the beginning of the 13th century when Christianity was forcibly imposed on the local population. Danish rule of Tallinn and northern Estonia started in 1219.


title: Tallinn

text: In 1285, Tallinn, then known more widely as Reval, became the northernmost member of the Hanseatic League – a mercantile and military alliance of German-dominated cities in Northern Europe. The king of Denmark sold Reval along with other land possessions in northern Estonia to the Teutonic Knights in 1346. Reval was arguably the most significant medieval port in the Gulf of Finland, the second-most important port being Turku Reval enjoyed a strategic position at the crossroads of trade between the rest of western Europe and Novgorod and Muscovy in the east. The city, with a population of about 8,000, was very well fortified with city walls and 66 defence towers.


title: Tallinn

text: A weather vane, the figure of an old warrior called Old Thomas, was put on top of the spire of the Tallinn Town Hall in 1530. Old Thomas later became a popular symbol of the city.


title: Tallinn

text: In the early years of the Protestant Reformation, the city converted to Lutheranism. In 1561, Reval (Tallinn) became a dominion of Sweden.


title: Tallinn

text: During the 1700–1721 Great Northern War, plague-stricken Tallinn along with Swedish Estonia and Livonia capitulated to Tsardom of Russia (Muscovy) in 1710, but the local self-government institutions (Magistracy of Reval and Estonian Knighthood) retained their cultural and economical autonomy within Imperial Russia as the Governorate of Estonia. The Magistracy of Reval was abolished in 1889. The 19th century brought industrialisation of the city and the port kept its importance.


title: Tallinn

text: On 24 February 1918, the Estonian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Tallinn. It was followed by Imperial German occupation until the end of World War I in November 1918, after which Tallinn became the capital of independent Estonia. During World War II, Estonia was first occupied by the Soviet army and annexed into the USSR in the summer of 1940, then occupied by Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1944. During the German occupation Tallinn suffered from many instances of aerial bombing by the Soviet air force. During the most destructive Soviet bombing raid on 9–10 March 1944, over a thousand incendiary bombs were dropped on the town, causing widespread fires, killing 757 people, and leaving over 20,000 residents of Tallinn without shelter. After the German retreat in September 1944, the city was occupied again by the Soviet Union.


title: Tallinn

text: During the 1980 Summer Olympics, the sailing (then known as yachting) events were held at Pirita, north-east of central Tallinn. Many buildings, such as the Tallinn TV Tower, "Olümpia" hotel, the new Main Post Office building, and the Regatta Centre, were built for the Olympics.


title: Tallinn

text: In 1991, the independent democratic Estonian nation was re-established and a period of quick development as a modern European capital ensued. Tallinn became the capital of a "de facto" independent country once again on 20 August 1991. The Old Town became a World Heritage Site in 1997, and the city hosted the 2002 Eurovision Song Contest. Tallinn was the 2011 European Capital of Culture, and will be the 2023 European Green Capital Award. The city has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40% by 2030 and takes pride in its biodiversity and high air quality.


title: Tallinn

text: The largest lake in Tallinn is Lake Ülemiste (), which serves as the main source of the city's drinking water. Lake Harku is the second-largest lake within the borders of Tallinn and its area is . The only significant river in Tallinn nowadays is the Pirita River, in the eponymous Pirita city district. Historically, a smaller river, called Härjapea, flowed from Lake Ülemiste through the town into the sea, but the river was diverted into underground sewerage system in the 1930s and has since completely disappeared from the cityscape. References to it still remain in the street names Jõe (from "jõgi", river) and Kivisilla (from "kivi sild", stone bridge).


title: Tallinn

text: A limestone cliff runs through the city. It can be seen at Toompea, Lasnamäe, and Astangu. However, Toompea is not a part of the cliff, but a separate hill.


title: Tallinn

text: The highest point in Tallinn, at 64 m (about 200 ft) above sea level, is situated in Hiiu, Nõmme District, in the south-west of the city.


title: Tallinn

text: The length of the coast is . It comprises three bigger peninsulas: Kopli, Paljassaare, and Kakumäe Peninsulas. The city has a number of public beaches, including those at Pirita, Stroomi, Kakumäe, Harku, and Pikakari.


title: Tallinn

text: The geology under the city of Tallinn is made up of rocks and sediments of different composition and age. Youngest are the Quaternary deposits. The materials of these deposits are till, varved clay, sand, gravel, and pebbles that are of glacial, marine and lacustrine origin. Some of the Quaternary deposits are valuable as they constitute aquifers, or as in the case of gravels and sands, are used as construction materials. The Quaternary deposits are the fill of valleys that are now buried. The buried valleys of Tallinn are carved into older rock likely by ancient rivers to be later modified by glaciers. While the valley fill is made up of Quaternary sediments the valleys themselves originated from erosion that took place before the Quaternary. The substrate into which the buried valleys were carved is made up of hard sedimentary rock of Ediacaran, Cambrian and Ordovician age. Only the upper layer of Ordovician rocks protrudes from the cover of younger deposits, cropping out in the Baltic Klint at the coast and at a few places inland. The Ordovician rocks are made up from top to bottom of a thick layer of limestone and marlstone, then a first layer of argillite followed by first layer of sandstone and siltstone and then another layer of argillite also followed by sandstone and siltstone. In other places of the city, hard sedimentary rock is only to be found beneath Quaternary sediments at depths reaching as much as 120 m below sea level. Underlying the sedimentary rock are the rocks of the Fennoscandian Craton including gneisses and other metamorphic rocks with volcanic rock protoliths and rapakivi granites. These rocks are much older than the rest (Paleoproterozoic age) and do not crop out anywhere in Estonia.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfb") with mild, rainy summers and cold, snowy winters. Winters are cold, but mild for its latitude, owing to its coastal location. The average temperature in February, the coldest month, is . During the winters, temperatures tend to hover close to freezing, but mild spells of weather can push temperatures above , occasionally reaching above while cold air masses can push temperatures below an average of 6 days a year. Snowfall is common during the winters, which are cloudy and characterised by low amounts of sunshine, ranging from only 20.7 hours of sunshine per month in December to 58.8 hours in February.


title: Tallinn

text: Spring starts out cool, with freezing temperatures common in March and April, but gradually becomes warmer in May, when daytime temperatures average , although nighttime temperatures still remain cool, averaging from March to May. Snowfall is common in March and can occur in April.


title: Tallinn

text: Summers are mild with daytime temperatures hovering around and nighttime temperatures averaging between from June to August. The warmest month is usually July, with an average of . During summer, partly cloudy or clear days are common and it is the sunniest season, ranging from 255.6 hours of sunshine in August to 312.1 hours in July although precipitation is higher during these months. As a consequence of its high latitude, at the summer solstice, daylight lasts for more than 18 hours and 30 minutes.


title: Tallinn

text: Fall starts out mild, with a September average daily mean of and increasingly becomes cooler and cloudier towards the end of November. In the early parts of fall, temperatures commonly reach and at least one day above in September. In late fall, freezing temperatures become more common and snowfall can occur.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn receives of precipitation annually, which is evenly distributed throughout the year although March, April and May are the driest months, averaging about , while July and August are the wettest months with of precipitation. The average humidity is 81%, ranging from a high of 89% to a low of 69% in May. Tallinn has an average windspeed of with winters being the windiest (around in January) and summers being the least windy at around in August. Extremes range from on 10 January 1987 to on 30 July 1994.


title: Tallinn

text: According to a 2021 study commissioned by the British price comparison site Uswitch.com, Tallinn is the most unpredictable of European capitals in terms of weather conditions, with a total score of 69/100; the high score is mainly due to the high number of rainy days in the city and the variation in the duration of sunshine. Riga and Helsinki took second and third places.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn is subdivided into eight administrative districts (, singular "linnaosa"). The district governments are city institutions that fulfill, in the territory of their district, the functions assigned to them by Tallinn legislation and statutes.


title: Tallinn

text: Each district government is managed by an elder (). They are appointed by the city government on the nomination of the mayor and after having heard the opinion of the administrative councils. The function of the administrative councils is to recommend to the city government and commissions of the city council how the districts should be administered.


title: Tallinn

text: The administrative districts are further divided into subdistricts or neighbourhoods (). Their names and borders are officially defined. There are 84 subdistricts in Tallinn.


title: Tallinn

text: The population of Tallinn on 1 January 2021 was 438,341. It is the most populous and primate city of Estonia, and the 59th most populated city in the EU.


title: Tallinn

text: According to Eurostat, in 2004, Tallinn had one of the largest number of non-EU nationals of all EU member states' capital cities. Ethnic Russians are a significant minority in Tallinn, as around a third of the city's residents are first and second generation immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union; a majority of the Soviet-era immigrants now hold Estonian citizenship.


title: Tallinn

text: Ethnic Estonians made up over 80% of Tallinn's population before World War II. As of 2020, ethnic Estonians made up over 52% of the population. Tallinn was one of the urban areas with industrial and military significance in northern Estonia that during the period of Soviet occupation underwent extensive russification of its ethnic composition due to large influx of immigrants from Russia and other parts of the former USSR. Whole new city districts were built where the main intent of the then Soviet authorities was to accommodate Russian-speaking immigrants: Mustamäe, Väike-Õismäe, Pelguranna, and most notably, Lasnamäe, which in 1980s became, and is to this day, the most populous district of Tallinn.


title: Tallinn

text: The official language of Tallinn is Estonian. As of 2011, 50.1% of the city's residents were native speakers of Estonian, whereas 46.7% had Russian as their first language. While English is the most frequently used foreign language by the residents Tallinn, there are also a significant number of native speakers of Ukrainian and Finnish.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn has a highly diversified economy with particular strengths in information technology, tourism and logistics. Over half of the Estonian GDP is created in Tallinn. In 2008, the GDP per capita of Tallinn stood at 172% of the Estonian average.


title: Tallinn

text: In addition to longtime functions as seaport and capital city, Tallinn has seen development of an information technology sector; in its 13 December 2005, edition, "The New York Times" characterised Estonia as "a sort of Silicon Valley on the Baltic Sea". One of Tallinn's sister cities is the Silicon Valley town of Los Gatos, California. Skype is one of the best-known of several Estonian start-ups originating from Tallinn. Many start-ups have originated from the Institute of Cybernetics. In recent years, Tallinn has gradually been becoming one of the main IT centres of Europe, with the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCD COE) of NATO, eu-LISA, the EU Digital Agency and the IT development centres of large corporations, such as TeliaSonera and Kuehne + Nagel being based in the city. Smaller start-up incubators like Garage48 and Game Founders have helped to provide support to teams from Estonia and around the world looking for support, development and networking opportunities.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn receives 4.3 million visitors annually, a figure that has grown steadily over the past decade. The Finns are especially a common sight in Tallinn; on average, about 20,000–40,000 Finnish tourists visit the city between June and October. Most of the visitors come from Europe, though Tallinn has also become increasingly visited by tourists from the Asia-Pacific region.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn Passenger Port is one of the busiest cruise destinations on the Baltic Sea, serving more than 520,000 cruise passengers in 2013. From year 2011 regular cruise turnarounds in cooperation with Tallinn Airport are organised.


title: Tallinn

text: Eesti Energia, a large oil shale to energy company, has its headquarters in Tallinn. The city also hosts the headquarters of Elering, a national electric power transmission system operator and member of ENTSO-E, the Estonian natural gas company Eesti Gaas and energy holding company Alexela Energia, part of Alexela Group. Nord Pool Spot, the largest market for electrical energy in the world, established its local office in Tallinn.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn is the financial centre of Estonia and also a strong economic centre in the Scandinavian-Baltic region. Many major banks, such as SEB, Swedbank, and Nordea, have their local offices in Tallinn. LHV Pank, an Estonian investment bank, has its corporate headquarters in Tallinn. Two crypto-currencies exchanges officially recognized by the Estonian government, CoinMetro and DX.Exchange have their headquarters in Tallinn. Tallinn Stock Exchange, part of NASDAQ OMX Group, is the only regulated exchange in Estonia.


title: Tallinn

text: Port of Tallinn is one of the biggest ports in the Baltic sea region, and the largest cargo port of Estonia, the Port of Muuga, which belongs to the same entity, is located in the neighboring town of Maardu. Old City Harbour has been known as a convenient harbour since the medieval times, but nowadays the cargo operations are shifted to Muuga Cargo Port and Paldiski Southern Port. There is a small fleet of oceangoing trawlers that operate out of Tallinn.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn's industries include shipbuilding, machine building, metal processing, electronics, textile manufacturing. BLRT Grupp has its headquarters and some subsidiaries in Tallinn. Air Maintenance Estonia and AS Panaviatic Maintenance, both based in Tallinn Airport, provide MRO services for aircraft, largely expanding their operations in recent years.


title: Tallinn

text: Liviko, the maker of Vana Tallinn liqueur, strongly associated with the city, is based in Tallinn. The headquarters of Kalev, a confectionery company and part of the industrial conglomerate Orkla Group, is located in Lehmja, southeast of Tallinn.


title: Tallinn

text: Estonia is ranked third in Europe in terms of shopping centre space per inhabitant, ahead of Sweden and being surpassed only by Norway and Luxembourg.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn is home to more than 60 museums and galleries. Most of them are located in Kesklinn, the central district of the city, and cover Tallinn's rich history.


title: Tallinn

text: One of the most visited historical museums in Tallinn is the Estonian History Museum, located in Great Guild Hall at Vanalinn, the old part of the city. It covers Estonia's history from prehistoric times up until the end of the 20th century. It features film and hands-on displays that show how Estonian dwellers lived and survived.


title: Tallinn

text: The Estonian Maritime Museum provides a detailed overview of nation's seafaring past. This museum in also located in city's Old Town, where it occupies one of Tallinn's former defensive structures – Fat Margaret's Tower. Another historical museum that can be found at city's Old Town, just behind the Town Hall, is Tallinn City Museum. It covers Tallinn's history from pre-history until 1991, when Estonia regained its independence. Tallinn City Museum owns nine more departments and museums around the city, one of which is Tallinn's Museum of Photography, also located just behind the Town Hall. It features permanent exhibition that covers 100 years of photography in Estonia.


title: Tallinn

text: Estonia's Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom is yet another historical museum located in Tallinn's central district. It covers the 52 years when Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany. Not far away is another museum related to the Soviet occupation of Estonia, the KGB Museum, which occupies the 23rd floor of Sokos Hotel Viru. It features equipment, uniforms, and documents of Russian Secret Service agents.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn is also home to two major natural science museums – Estonian Museum of Natural History and Estonian Health Care Museum, both located in Old Town. The Estonian Museum of Natural Science features several seasonal and temporary themed exhibitions that provide an overview of wildlife in Estonia and around the world. The Estonian Health Care Museum features permanent exhibitions on anatomy and health care; its collections and displays cover the history of medicine in Estonia.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn is home to several art and design museums. The Estonian Art Museum, the largest art museum in Estonia, consists of four branches – Kumu Art Museum, Kadriorg Art Museum, Mikkel Museum, and Niguliste Museum. Kumu Art Museum features the country's largest collection of contemporary and modern art. It also displays Estonian art starting from the early 18th century. Those who are interested in Western European and Russian art may enjoy Kadriorg Art Museum collections, located in Kadriorg Palace, a beautiful Baroque building erected by Peter the Great. It stores and displays about 9,000 works of art from the 16th to 20th centuries. The Mikkel Museum, in Kadriorg Park, displays a collection of mainly Western art – ceramics and Chinese porcelain donated by Johannes Mikkel in 1994. The Niguliste Museum occupies former St. Nicholas' Church; it displays collections of historical ecclesiastical art spanning nearly seven centuries from the Middle Ages to post-Reformation art.


title: Tallinn

text: Those that are interested in design and applied art may enjoy the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design collection of Estonian contemporary designs. It displays up to 15.000 pieces of work made of textile art, ceramics, porcelain, leather, glass, jewellery, metalwork, furniture, and product design. To experience more relaxed, culture-oriented exhibits, one may turn to Museum of Estonian Drinking Culture. This museum showcases the historic Luscher & Matiesen Distillery as well as the history of Estonian alcohol production.


title: Tallinn

text: The Estonian Song Festival (in Estonian: Laulupidu) is one of the largest choral events in the world, listed by the UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. It is held every five years in July on the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds ("Lauluväljak") simultaneously with the Estonian Dance Festival. The joint choir has comprised more than 30,000 singers performing to an audience of 80,000.


title: Tallinn

text: Estonians have one of the biggest collections of folk songs in the world, with written records of about 133,000 folk songs. From 1987, a cycle of mass demonstrations featuring spontaneous singing of national songs and hymns that were strictly forbidden during the years of the Soviet occupation to peacefully resist the oppression. In September 1988, a record 300,000 people, more than a quarter of all Estonians, gathered in Tallinn for a song festival.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Estonian: Pimedate Ööde Filmifestival, or PÖFF), is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is the only festival in the Nordic and Baltic region with a FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Association) accreditation for holding an international competition programme in the Nordic and Baltic region with 14 other non-specialised festivals, such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice. With over 250 feature films screened each year and over 77500 attendances (2014), PÖFF is one of the largest film events of Northern Europe and cultural events in Estonia in the winter season. During its 19th edition in 2015 the festival screened more than 600 films (including 250+ feature-length films from 80 countries), bringing over 900 screenings to an audience of over 80, 000 people as well as over 700 accredited guests and journalists from 50 countries. In 2010 the festival held the European Film Awards ceremony in Tallinn.


title: Tallinn

text: The traditional cuisine of Tallinn reflects culinary traditions of north Estonia, the role of the city as a fishing port, and historical German influences. Numerous cafés have played a major role in a social life of the city since the 19th century, as have bars, especially in the Kesklinn district.


title: Tallinn

text: The "martsipan" industry in Tallinn has a very long history. The production of "martsipan" started in the Middle Ages, almost simultaneously in Tallinn (Reval) and Lübeck, both member cities of the Hanseatic League. In 1695, "marzipan" was mentioned as a medicine, under the designation of "Panis Martius," in the price lists of the Tallinn Town Hall Pharmacy. The modern era of "martsipan" in Tallinn began in 1806, when the Swiss confectioner Lorenz Caviezel set up his confectionery on Pikk Street. In 1864, it was bought and expanded by Georg Stude and now is known as the Maiasmokk café. In the late 19th century "martsipan" figurines made by Tallinn's confectioners were supplied to the Russian imperial family.


title: Tallinn

text: Arguably, the most symbolic seafood dish of Tallinn is "vürtsikilu" ("spicy sprat") – salted sprats pickled with a distinctive set of spices including black pepper, allspice and cloves. The making of traditional "vürtsikilu" is thought to have originated from the city's outskirts. In 1826, the merchants of Tallinn exported 40,000 cans of "vürtsikilu" to Saint Petersburg. A closely associated dish is "kiluvõileib" ("sprat-butter-bread") – a traditional rye bread open sandwich covered with a layer of butter and "vürtsikilu" as the topping. Boiled egg slices and culinary herbs are optional extra toppings. Alcoholic beverages produced in the city include beer, vodka, and liqueurs (such as the eponymous Vana Tallinn). The number of craft beer breweries has expanded sharply in Tallinn over the last decade, entering local and regional markets.


title: Tallinn

text: What can arguably be considered to be Tallinn's main attractions are located in the Tallinn Old Town (divided into a "lower town" and Toompea hill) which is easily explored on foot. The eastern parts of the city, notably Pirita (with Pirita Convent) and Kadriorg (with Kadriorg Palace) districts, are also popular destinations, and the Estonian Open Air Museum in Rocca al Mare, west of the city, preserves aspects of Estonian rural culture and architecture. The historical wooden suburbs like Kalamaja, Pelgulinn, Kassisaba and Kelmiküla and revitalized industrial areas like Rotermanni Quarter, Noblessner and Dvigatel are also unique places to visit.


title: Tallinn

text: This area was once an almost separate town, heavily fortified, and has always been the seat of whatever power that has ruled Estonia. The hill occupies an easily defensible site overlooking the surrounding districts. The major attractions are the medieval Toompea Castle (today housing the Estonian Parliament, the "Riigikogu"), the Lutheran St Mary's Cathedral, also known as the Dome Church (), and the Russian Orthodox Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.


title: Tallinn

text: This area is one of the best preserved medieval towns in Europe and the authorities are continuing its rehabilitation. Major sights include the Town Hall square (), the city wall and towers (notably "Fat Margaret" and "Kiek in de Kök") as well as a number of medieval churches, including St Olaf's, St. Nicholas' and the Church of the Holy Ghost. The Catholic Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul is also in the Lower Town.


title: Tallinn

text: Kadriorg is east of the city centre and is served by buses and trams. Kadriorg Palace, the former palace of Peter the Great, built just after the Great Northern War, now houses the foreign art department of the Art Museum of Estonia, the presidential residence and the surrounding grounds include formal gardens and woodland.


title: Tallinn

text: The main building of the Art Museum of Estonia, Kumu (, Art Museum), was built in 2006 and lies in Kadriorg park. It houses an encyclopaedic collection of Estonian art, including paintings by Carl Timoleon von Neff, Johann Köler, Eduard Ole, Jaan Koort, Konrad Mägi, Eduard Wiiralt, Henn Roode and Adamson-Eric, among others.


title: Tallinn

text: This coastal district is a further 2 kilometres north-east of Kadriorg. The marina was built for the Moscow Olympics of 1980, and boats can be hired on the Pirita River. Two kilometres inland are the Botanic Gardens and the Tallinn TV Tower.


title: Tallinn

text: The city operates a system of bus (73 lines), tram (4 lines) and trolley-bus (4 lines) routes to all districts; the long tram system is the only tram network in Estonia. A flat-fare system is used. The ticket-system is based on prepaid RFID cards available in kiosks and post offices. In January 2013, Tallinn became the first European capital to offer a fare-free service on buses, trams and trolleybuses within the city limits. This service is available to residents who register with the municipality.


title: Tallinn

text: The Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport is about from Town Hall square (). There is a tram (Line Number: 4) and local bus connection between the airport and the edge of the city centre (bus no. 2). The nearest railway station Ülemiste is only from the airport. The construction of the new section of the airport began in 2007 and was finished in summer 2008.


title: Tallinn

text: Several ferry operators, Viking Line, Tallink and Eckerö Line, connect Tallinn to Helsinki, Mariehamn, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg. Passenger lines connect Tallinn to Helsinki ( north of Tallinn) in approximately 2–3.5 hours by cruiseferries.


title: Tallinn

text: The Elron railway company operates train services from Tallinn to Tartu, Valga, Türi, Viljandi, Tapa, Narva, Koidula. Buses are also available to all these and various other destinations in Estonia, as well as to Saint Petersburg in Russia and Riga, Latvia. The Russian railways company operates a daily international sleeper train service between Tallinn – Moscow.


title: Tallinn

text: Tallinn also has a commuter rail service running from Tallinn's main rail station in two main directions: east (Aegviidu) and to several western destinations (Pääsküla, Keila, Riisipere, Turba, Paldiski, and Kloogaranna). These are electrified lines and are used by the Elron railroad company. Stadler FLIRT EMU and DMU units are in service since July 2013. The first electrified train service in Tallinn was opened in 1924 from Tallinn to Pääsküla, a distance of .


title: Tallinn

text: The Rail Baltica project, which will link Tallinn with Warsaw via Latvia and Lithuania, will connect Tallinn with the rest of the European rail network. A undersea tunnel has been proposed between Tallinn and Helsinki, though it remains at a planning phase.


title: Tallinn

text: The Via Baltica motorway (part of European route E67 from Helsinki to Prague) connects Tallinn to the Lithuanian-Polish border through Latvia. Frequent and affordable long-distance bus routes connect Tallinn with other parts of Estonia.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of the most powerful organized crime groups in the world.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Since the 1950s, following wide-scale emigration from Calabria, the organization has established itself worldwide. It is characterized by a horizontal structure made up of autonomous clans known as "'ndrine", based almost exclusively on blood ties. Its main activity is drug trafficking, on which it has a monopoly in Europe, but it also deals with arms trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, extortion, loan sharking, and prostitution. The 'Ndrangheta has enjoyed, for decades, a privileged relationship with the main South American cartels, which consider it the most reliable European partner. It is capable of heavily influencing local and national politics and infiltrating large sectors of the legal economy. In 2013 they purportedly made € 53 billion according to a study from Demoskopika Research Institute. A US diplomat estimated that the organization's narcotics trafficking, extortion and money laundering activities accounted for at least three per cent of Italy's GDP in 2010.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The 'Ndrangheta was already known during the reign of the Bourbons of Naples. In the spring of 1792, there was the first official report in history on the 'Ndrangheta, and a mission as "Royal Visitor" was entrusted to Giuseppe Maria Galanti; these travelled far and wide throughout most of Calabria, often also making use of reports (answers written on the basis of a sort of questionnaire to fixed questions, prepared by himself) of local notables deemed reliable and trusted. This resulted in a bleak picture, as well as on the economic situation in the region, especially on that of public order. This work has been analyzed by various contemporary historians.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Luca Addante writes in the introduction to the re-edition of Galanti's report ("Giornale di viaggio in Calabria", Rubbettino Editore, 2008): "the murders, thefts, the kidnappings were infinite; the ignorance of the clergy was scandalous; the village notables, obsessed with the idea of enriching themselves and then ennobling themselves, rapacious monopolizers of local administrations, who grew up in the shadow of a decadent nobility whose remains were being prepared." Galanti, in particular, reports in the Giornale the descriptions of disturbing crime phenomena, noting how the inefficient administration of justice, the corruption and the monopoly of the barons, was starting to produce cases, as in Maida, of "a small bunch of young, freeloaded young men who commit violence with the use of firearms. Justice is idle because without force and without a system malicious people become policemen (a sort of urban guard)." In the District of Gerace, "the raids of the criminals in the countryside are general. Almost all the militiamen are the most troublemakers in the province because the criminals and the debtors adopt this profession and are guaranteed by commanders in contempt of the laws. With this, the crimes, which grow every day".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In 1861, the prefect of Reggio Calabria already noticed the presence of so-called "camorristi", a term used at the time since there was no formal name for the phenomenon in Calabria (the Camorra was the older and better known criminal organization in Naples). Since the 1880s, there is ample evidence of 'Ndrangheta-type groups in police reports and sentences by local courts. At the time they were often being referred to as the "picciotteria", "onorata società" (honoured society) or "camorra" and "mafia".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: These secret societies in the areas of Calabria rich in olives and vines were distinct from the often anarchic forms of banditry and were organized hierarchically with a code of conduct that included omertà – the code of silence – according to a sentence from the court in Reggio Calabria in 1890. An 1897 sentence from the court in Palmi mentioned a written code of rules found in the village of Seminara based on honour, secrecy, violence, solidarity (often based on blood relationships) and mutual assistance.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In the folk culture surrounding 'Ndrangheta in Calabria, references to the Spanish Garduña often appear. Aside from these references, however, there is nothing to substantiate a link between the two organizations. The Calabrian word 'Ndrangheta derives from Greek ἀνδραγαθία "andragathía" for "heroism" and manly "virtue" or ἀνδράγαθος "andrágathos", compound words of ἀνήρ, "anḗr" (gen. ἀνδρóς, "andrós"), i.e. man, and ἀγαθός, "agathós", i.e. good, brave, meaning a courageous man. In many areas of Calabria the verb ndranghitiari", from the Greek verb "andragathízesthai", means "to engage in a defiant and valiant attitude".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The word 'Ndrangheta was brought to a wider audience by the Calabrian writer Corrado Alvaro in the "Corriere della Sera" in September 1955.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Until 1975, the 'Ndrangheta restricted their Italian operations to Calabria, mainly involved in extortion and blackmail. Their involvement in cigarette contraband expanded their scope and contacts with the Sicilian Mafia and the Neapolitan Camorra. With the arrival of large public works in Calabria, skimming of public contracts became an important source of income. Disagreements over how to distribute the spoils led to the First 'Ndrangheta war killing 233 people. The prevailing factions began to kidnap rich people located in northern Italy for ransom. A high-profile case was the 1973 kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, who had his severed ear mailed to a newspaper in November, and later released in December following the negotiated payment of $2.2 million by Getty's grandfather, J. Paul Getty. There were reportedly more than 200 abductions between the 1970s and mid-1990s acredited to the 'Ndrangheta.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The Second 'Ndrangheta war raged from 1985 to 1991. The bloody six-year war between the Condello-Imerti-Serraino-Rosmini clans and the De Stefano-Tegano-Libri-Latella clans led to more than 600 deaths. The Sicilian Mafia contributed to the end of the conflict and probably suggested the subsequent set up of a superordinate body, called La Provincia, to avoid further infighting.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In 1996, the Solntsevskaya Bratva of the Russian Mafia, who are very close to Vietnamese narcotics traffickers in Moscow and the Cali Cartel, supported the 'Ndrangheta. The mayor of Moscow in the late 1990s Yuri Luzhkov gave support to these groups as well. The Solntsevskaya mafia have close links to the FSB and control the territory around the FSB Academy in Moscow. The Tambovskaya Bratva, who are very closely associated with the political rise of Vladimir Putin, support the Solntsevsksya mafia. In the 1990s, the organization started to invest in the illegal international drug trade, mainly importing cocaine from Colombia.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Deputy President of the regional parliament of Calabria Francesco Fortugno was killed by the 'Ndrangheta on 16 October 2005 in Locri. Demonstrations against the organization then ensued, with young protesters carrying banderoles reading "Ammazzateci tutti!", Italian for "Kill us all". The national government started a large-scale enforcement operation in Calabria and arrested numerous 'ndranghetisti including the murderers of Fortugno.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The 'Ndrangheta has expanded its activities to Northern Italy, mainly to sell drugs and to invest in legal businesses which could be used for money laundering. In May 2007 twenty members of 'Ndrangheta were arrested in Milan. On 30 August 2007, hundreds of police raided the town of San Luca, the focal point of the bitter San Luca feud between rival clans among the 'Ndrangheta. Over 30 men and women, linked to the killing of six Italian men in Germany, were arrested.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Since 30 March 2010, the 'Ndrangheta has been considered an organisation of mafia-type association according to 416 bis under the Italian penal code.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In March 2011, the Ndrangheta expanded into northern Italy due to their "unlimited financial resources" according to the Italian Anti-Mafia Commission.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: On 4 June 2012, numerous arrests in Spain, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, and Finland were made following the Milan District Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office investigation into several Switzerland bank accounts and a fleet of ships that supported cocaine shipped to Europe from Venezuela, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: On 9 October 2012, following a months-long investigation by the central government, the City Council of Reggio Calabria headed by Mayor was dissolved for alleged ties to the group. Arena and all the 30 city councilors were sacked to prevent any "mafia contagion" in the local government.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: This was the first time a government of a capital of a provincial government was dismissed. Three central government-appointed administrators will govern the city for 18 months until new elections. The move came after unnamed councilors were suspected of having ties to the 'Ndrangheta under the 10-year centre-right rule of Mayor Giuseppe Scopelliti.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: 'Ndrangheta infiltration of political offices is not limited to Calabria. On 10 October 2012, the commissioner of Milan's regional government in charge of public housing, Domenico Zambetti of People of Freedom (PDL), was arrested on accusations he paid the 'Ndrangheta in exchange for an election victory and to extort favours and contracts from the housing official, including construction tenders for the World Expo 2015 in Milan. The probe of alleged vote-buying underscores the infiltration of the 'Ndrangheta in the political machine of Italy's affluent northern Lombardy region. Zambetti's arrest marked the biggest case of 'Ndrangheta infiltration so far uncovered in northern Italy and prompted calls for Lombardy governor Roberto Formigoni to resign.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In 2014, in the American FBI and Italian police joint operation "New Bridge", members of both the American Gambino and Bonanno families were arrested, as well as ten members of the Ursino clan. Raffaele Valente was among the arrested. In Italian wiretaps, he revealed that he had set up a faction of the Ursino 'Ndrangheta in New York City. Valente was convicted for attempting to sell a sawn-off shotgun and a silencer to an undercover FBI agent for $5000 at a bakery in Brooklyn. He was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. Gambino associate Franco Lupoi and his father-in-law, Nicola Antonio Simonetta, were described as the linchpins of the operation. International organizations like INTERPOL have also engaged in operations against the 'Ndrangheta, specifically in their launch of INTERPOL's Cooperation Against 'Ndrangheta (ICAN). In June 2014, Pope Francis denounced the 'Ndrangheta for their "adoration of evil and contempt of the common good" and vowed that the Church would help tackle organized crime, saying that Mafiosi were excommunicated. A spokesperson for the Vatican clarified that the pope's words did not constitute a formal excommunication under canon law, as a period of legal process is required beforehand.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: On 12 December 2017, 48 members of 'Ndrangheta were arrested for mafia association, extortion, criminal damage, fraudulent transferral of assets and illegal possession of firearms. Out of the 48 arrested, four were forced to house arrest and 44 were ordered to jail detention. Two-time mayor of Taurianova, Calabria and his former cabinet member were among the indicted. It was alleged by investigators that the Calabrian clans had infiltrated construction of public works, control of real estate brokerage, food fields, greenhouse production and renewable energy.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: According to some reports, the 'Ndrangheta works in conjunction with Mexican drug cartels in the drug trade, such as with the mercenary army known as Los Zetas.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: On 9 January 2018, law enforcement in Italy and Germany arrested 169 people in connection with the 'Ndrangheta mafia, specifically the "Farao" and "Marincola" clans based in Calabria. Assets worth € 50 million (£44/$59m) were seized. The indictment mentions that owners of German restaurants, ice cream parlours, hotels and pizzerias were forced to buy wine, pizza dough, pastries and other products made in southern Italy. The Farao clan was being led by life-imprisoned Giuseppe Farao, before the arrests, and was passing orders onto his sons. They controlled bakeries, vineyards, olive groves, funeral homes, launderettes, plastic recycling plants and shipyards. The waste disposal of the Ilva steel company based in Taranto was also infiltrated. Some of the charges were mafia association, attempted murder, money laundering, extortion and illegal weapons possession and trafficking. Italian prosecutor, Nicola Gratteri, said that the arrests were the most important step taken against the 'Ndrangehta within the past 20 years. Eleven suspects were detained and accused of blackmailing and money laundering. They were deported back to Italy. Alessandro Figliomeni, former Mayor of Siderno, Calabria, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on 7 May 2018. He is alleged to be a member of the Commisso 'ndrina clan and served in the top hierarchy.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In December 2019, more than 300 people were arrested in Calabria on suspicion of belonging to the 'Ndrangheta in an operation involving 2,500 police. Among those arrested was , a prominent lawyer and former member of Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia party. The arrests were said by Nicola Gratteri, the chief prosecutor in Catanzaro, to be the second largest in number in the history of Italian organised crime, after those that led to the so-called "Maxi Trial" of Sicilian Mafia bosses in Palermo between 1986 and 1992. The trial against the more than 300 'Ndrangheta members began on 13 January 2021.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Italian anti-organized crime agencies estimated in 2007 that the 'Ndrangheta has an annual revenue of about € 35–40 billion (US$35–40 billion), which amounts to approximately 3.5% of the GDP of Italy. This comes mostly from illegal drug trafficking, but also from ostensibly legal businesses such as construction, restaurants and supermarkets. The 'Ndrangheta has a strong grip on the economy and governance in Calabria. According to a US Embassy cable leaked by WikiLeaks, the 'Ndrangheta controls huge segments of its territory and economy, and accounts for at least three percent of Italy's GDP through drug trafficking, extortion, skimming of public contracts, and usury.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The principal difference with the Mafia is in recruitment methods. The 'Ndrangheta recruits members on the criterion of blood relationships resulting in an extraordinary cohesion within the family clan that presents a major obstacle to investigation. Sons of "'ndranghetisti" are expected to follow in their fathers' footsteps, and go through a grooming process in their youth to become "giovani d'onore" (boys of honour) before they eventually enter the ranks as "uomini d'onore" (men of honour). There are relatively few Calabrian mafiosi who have opted out to become a pentito; at the end of 2002, there were 157 Calabrian witnesses in the state witness protection program. Unlike the Sicilian Mafia in the early 1990s, they have meticulously avoided a head-on confrontation with the Italian state.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Prosecution in Calabria is hindered by the fact that Italian judges and prosecutors who score highly in exams get to choose their posting; those who are forced to work in Calabria will usually request to be transferred right away. With weak government presence and corrupt officials, few civilians are willing to speak out against the organization.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Both the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the 'Ndrangheta are loose confederations of about one hundred organised groups, also called ""cosche"" or families, each of which claims sovereignty over a territory, usually a town or village, though without ever fully conquering and legitimizing its monopoly of violence.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: There are approximately 100 of these families, totaling between 4,000 and 5,000 members in Reggio Calabria. Other estimates mention 6,000–7,000 men; worldwide there might be some 10,000 members.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Most of the groups (86) operate in the Province of Reggio Calabria, although a portion of the recorded 70 criminal groups based in the Calabrian provinces Catanzaro and Cosenza also appears to be formally affiliated with the 'Ndrangheta. The families are concentrated in poor villages in Calabria such as Platì, Locri, San Luca, Africo and Altomonte as well as the main city and provincial capital Reggio Calabria. San Luca is considered to be the stronghold of the 'Ndrangheta. According to a former 'ndranghetista, "almost all the male inhabitants belong to the 'Ndrangheta, and the Sanctuary of Polsi has long been the meeting place of the affiliates." Bosses from outside Calabria, from as far as Canada and Australia, regularly attend the meetings at the Sanctuary of Polsi, an indication that the "'ndrine" around the world perceive themselves as being part of the same collective entity.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The basic local organizational unit of the 'Ndrangheta is called a "locale" (local or place) with jurisdiction over an entire town or an area in a large urban center. A "locale" may have branches, called " 'ndrina" (plural: " 'ndrine"), in the districts of the same city, in neighbouring towns and villages, or even outside Calabria, in cities and towns in the industrial North of Italy in and around Turin and Milan: for example, Bardonecchia, an alpine town in the province of Turin in Piedmont, has been, the first municipality in northern Italy dissolved for alleged mafia infiltration, with the arrest of the historical 'Ndrangheta boss of the city, Rocco Lo Presti. The small towns of Corsico and Buccinasco in Lombardy are considered to be strongholds of the 'Ndrangheta. Sometimes "sotto 'ndrine" are established. These subunits enjoy a high degree of autonomy – they have a leader and independent staff. In some contexts the " 'ndrine" have become more powerful than the "locale" on which they formally depend. Other observers maintain that the " 'ndrina" is the basic organizational unit. Each " 'ndrina" is "autonomous on its territory and no formal authority stands above the "" 'ndrina" boss", according to the Antimafia Commission. The " 'ndrina" is usually in control of a small town or a neighborhood. If more than one " 'ndrina" operates in the same town, they form a "locale".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Blood family and membership of the crime family overlap to a great extent within the 'Ndrangheta. By and large, the " 'ndrine" consist of men belonging to the same family lineage. Salvatore Boemi, anti-mafia prosecutor in Reggio Calabria, told the Italian Antimafia Commission that "one becomes a member for the simple fact of being born in a mafia family," although other reasons might attract a young man to seek membership, and non-kin have also been admitted. Marriages help cement relations within each " 'ndrina" and to expand membership. As a result, a few blood families constitute each group, hence "a high number of people with the same last name often end up being prosecuted for membership of a given " 'ndrina"." Indeed, since there is no limit to the membership of a single unit, bosses try to maximize descendants.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: At the bottom of the chain of command are the "picciotti d'onore" or soldiers, who are expected to perform tasks with blind obedience until they are promoted to the next level of "cammorista", where they will be granted command over their own group of soldiers. The next level, separated by the " 'ndrina" but part of 'Ndrangheta, is known as "santista" and higher still is the "vangelista", upon which the up-and-coming gangster has to swear their dedication to a life of crime on the Bible. The "Quintino", also called "Padrino", is the second-highest level of command in a 'Ndrangheta clan (name "Ndrina"), being made up of five privileged members of the crime family who report directly to the boss, the "capobastone" (head of command).


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: For many years, the power apparatus of the single families were the sole ruling bodies within the two associations, and they have remained the real centres of power even after superordinate bodies were created in the Cosa Nostra beginning in the 1950s (the Sicilian Mafia Commission) and in the 'Ndrangheta a superordinate body was created only in 1991 as the result of negotiations to end years of inter-family violence. However, the absolute autonomy of Calabrian crime families prior to this is not supported by historical evidence. At least since the end of the 19th century, some stable mechanisms for coordination and dispute settlement have existed. Contacts and meetings among the bosses of the "locali" were frequent.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: A new investigation, known as Operation Crimine, which ended in July 2010 with an arrest of 305 'Ndrangheta members revealed that the 'Ndrangheta was extremely "hierarchical, united and pyramidal," and not just clan-based as previously believed, as said by Italy's chief anti-mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: At least since the 1950s, the chiefs of the 'Ndrangheta "locali" have met regularly near the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Polsi in the municipality of San Luca during the September Feast. These annual meetings, known as the "crimine", have traditionally served as a forum to discuss future strategies and settle disputes among the "locali". The assembly exercises weak supervisory powers over the activities of all 'Ndrangheta groups. Strong emphasis was placed on the temporary character of the position of the "crimine" boss. A new representative was elected at each meeting. Far from being the "boss of bosses," the "capo crimine" actually has comparatively little authority to interfere in family feuds or to control the level of interfamily violence.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: At these meetings, every boss "must give account of all the activities carried out during the year and of all the most important facts taking place in his territory such as kidnappings, homicides, etc." The historical preeminence of the San Luca family is such that every new group or "locale" must obtain its authorization to operate and every group belonging to the 'Ndrangheta, "still has to deposit a small percentage of illicit proceeds to the "principale" of San Luca in recognition of the latter's primordial supremacy."


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Security concerns have led to the creation in the 'Ndrangheta of a secret society within the secret society: "La Santa". Membership in the "Santa" is known only to other members. Contrary to the code, it allowed bosses to establish close connections with state representatives, even to the extent that some were affiliated with the "Santa". These connections were often established through the Freemasonry, which the "santisti" – breaking another rule of the traditional code – were allowed to join.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Since the end of the Second 'Ndrangheta war in 1991, the 'Ndrangheta is ruled by a collegial body or Commission, known as "La Provincia". Its primary function is the settlement of inter-family disputes. The body, also referred to as the Commission in reference to its Sicilian counterpart, is composed of three lower bodies, known as "mandamenti". One for the clans on the Ionic side (the Aspromonte mountains and Locride) of Calabria, a second for the Tyrrhenian side (the plains of Gioia Tauro) and one central "mandamento" for the city of Reggio Calabria.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: An article published in July 2019 in Canada, summarized the traditional structure. "For decades, the ’Ndrangheta families of Siderno operating in Canada — about seven of them — have been governed by a board of directors, called the “camera di controllo,” or chamber of control. The local board, as in other countries around the world and other regions of Italy where clans have spread, have all been subservient to the mother clans of Calabria, under a body known as 'il Crimine di Siderno'".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: By mid-2019, however, Police in both countries were convinced that "the ’Ndrangheta's Canadian presence has become so powerful and influential that the board north of Toronto has the authority to make decisions, not only in relation to Canada's underworld, but also abroad, even back in Siderno".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: According to Italian DIA ("Direzione Investigativa Antimafia", Department of the Police of Italy against organized crime) and Guardia di Finanza (Italian Financial Police and Customs Police) the "'Ndrangheta is now one of the most powerful criminal organizations in the world." Economic activities of 'Ndrangheta include international cocaine and weapons smuggling, with Italian investigators estimating that 80% of Europe's cocaine passes through the Calabrian port of Gioia Tauro and is controlled by the 'Ndrangheta. However, according to a report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol, the Iberian Peninsula is considered the main entry point for cocaine into Europe and a gateway to the European market. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimated that in 2007 nearly ten times as much cocaine was intercepted in Spain (almost 38 MT) in comparison with Italy (almost 4 MT).


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: 'Ndrangheta groups and Sicilian Cosa Nostra groups sometimes act as joint ventures in cocaine trafficking enterprises.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Further activities include skimming money off large public work construction projects, money laundering and traditional crimes such as usury and extortion. 'Ndrangheta invests illegal profits in legal real estate and financial activities.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In early February 2017, the Carabinieri arrested 33 suspects in the Calabrian mafia's Piromalli 'ndrina ('Ndrangheta) which was allegedly exporting fake extra virgin olive oil to the U.S.; the product was actually inexpensive olive pomace oil fraudulently labeled. In early 2016, the American television program 60 Minutes had warned that "the olive oil business has been corrupted by the Mafia" and that "Agromafia" was $16-billion per year enterprise.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The business volume of the 'Ndrangheta is estimated at almost € 44 billion in 2007, approximately 2.9% of Italy's GDP, according to a private research institute, Eurispes (Institute of Political, Economic and Social Studies) in Italy. Drug trafficking is the most profitable activity with 62% of the total turnover.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The 'Ndrangheta has established branches abroad, mainly through migration. The overlap of blood and mafia family seems to have helped the 'Ndrangheta expand beyond its traditional territory: "The familial bond has not only worked as a shield to protect secrets and enhance security, but also helped to maintain identity in the territory of origin and reproduce it in territories where the family has migrated." " 'Ndrine" are reported to be operating in northern Italy, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, the rest of Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia. One group of 'ndranghetisti discovered outside Italy was in Ontario, Canada, several decades ago. They were dubbed the Siderno Group by Canadian judges as most of its members hailed from and around Siderno.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Magistrates in Calabria warned a few years ago about the international scale of the 'Ndrangheta's operations. It is now believed to have surpassed the traditional axis between the Sicilian and American Cosa Nostra, to become the major importer of cocaine to Europe. Outside Italy 'Ndrangheta operates in several countries, such as:


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: According to the German Federal Intelligence Service, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND), in a leaked report to a Berlin newspaper, states that the 'Ndrangheta "act in close co-operation with Albanian mafia families in moving weapons and narcotics across Europe's porous borders".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In November 2006, a cocaine trafficking network that operated in Argentina, Spain and Italy was dismantled. The Argentinian police said the 'Ndrangheta had roots in the country and shipped cocaine through Spain to Milan and Turin. In October 2022, an Italian 'Ndrangheta mafia leader, Carmine Alfonso Maiorano, who was responsible for drug and arms trafficking operations between Latin America and Europe was captured in Guernica, Buenos Aires after years-long of manhunt.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Known by the name "The Honoured Society," the 'Ndrangheta controlled Italian-Australian organized crime all along the east coast of Australia since the early 20th century. 'Ndrangheta operating in Australia include the Sergi, Barbaro and Papalia clans. Similarly in Victoria the major families are named as Italiano, Arena, Muratore, Benvenuto, and Condello. In the 1960s warfare among 'Ndrangheta clans broke out over the control of the Victoria Market in Melbourne, where an estimated $45 million worth of fruits and vegetables passed through each year. After the death of Domenico Italiano, known as Il Papa, different clans tried to gain control over the produce market. At the time it was unclear that most involved were affiliated with the 'Ndrangheta.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The 'Ndrangheta began in Australia in Queensland, where they continued their form of rural organised crime, especially in the fruit and vegetable industry. After the 1998–2006 Melbourne gangland killings which included the murder of 'Ndrangheta Godfather Frank Benvenuto. In 2008, the 'Ndrangheta were tied to the importation of 15 million ecstasy pills to Melbourne, at the time the world's largest ecstasy haul. The pills were hidden in a container-load of tomato cans from Calabria. Australian 'Ndrangheta boss Pasquale Barbaro was arrested. Pasquale Barbaro's father Francesco Barbaro was a boss throughout the 1970s and early 1980s until his retirement. Several of the Barbaro clan, including among others, Francesco, were suspected in orchestrating the murder of Australian businessman Donald Mackay in July 1977 for his anti-drugs campaign.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Italian authorities believe that former Western Australian mayor of the city of Stirling, Tony Vallelonga, is an associate of Giuseppe Commisso, boss of the Siderno clan of the Ndrangheta. In 2009, Italian police overheard the two discussing Ndrangheta activities. Since migrating from Italy to Australia in 1963, Vallelonga has "established a long career in grass-roots politics."


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The 'Ndrangheta are also tied to large cocaine imports. Up to 500 kilograms of cocaine was documented relating to the mafia and Australian associates smuggled in slabs of marble, plastic tubes and canned tuna, coming from South America to Melbourne via Italy between 2002 and 2004. A report in 2016 by Vice Media indicated that the activities continued to be profitable: "Between 2004 and 2014, the gang's members amassed more than $10 million [$7.6 million USD] in real estate and race horses in Victoria alone pouring money into wholesalers, cafes, and restaurants".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Four Corners which alleged that "the 'Ndrangheta, runs a drugs and extortion business worth billions of euros" in Australia and that "politicians have been infiltrated by the Calabrian mafia".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: In February 2020, two individuals, said to be "multimillionaire fruit and vegetable kings" were alleged to be 'Ndrangheta "capos", having a relationship with the "secretive criminal organisation". The Sydney Morning Herald report specified that the two "are not accused of any crime in either Italy or Australia". The alleged information was obtained during investigations of other individuals during Operation Eyphemos in Calabria, which "led to the arrest ... of 65 men for alleged mafia activities including extortion and political corruption in Calabria".


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: 'Ndrangheta clans purchased almost "an entire neighbourhood" in Brussels with laundered money originating from drug trafficking. On 5 March 2004, 47 people were arrested, accused of drug trafficking and money laundering to purchase real estate in Brussels for some 28 million euros. The activities extended to the Netherlands where large quantities of heroin and cocaine had been purchased by the Pesce-Bellocco clan from Rosarno and the Strangio clan from San Luca.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Forces of the Brazilian "Polícia Federal" have linked illegal drug trading activities in Brazil to 'Ndragheta in operation Monte Pollino, which disassembled cocaine exportation schemes to Europe.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Several important 'Ndrangheta bosses were arrested in Brazil, such as Domenico Pelle, Nicola Assisi and Rocco Morabito.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: Assisi and Morabito (according to investigations by the Brazilian Federal Police) resided in Brazil, where they pretended to be legitimate businessmen and lived in luxury properties, while negotiating with important members of the Primeiro Comando da Capital (considered the largest criminal syndicate in Brazil and one of the most powerful and violent drug cartels in the world) agreements to ship and exporting large shipments of cocaine to Europe.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: According to a May 2018 news report, "Siderno's Old World 'Ndrangheta boss sent acolytes to populate the New World" including Michele (Mike) Racco who settled in Toronto in 1952, followed by other mob families. By 2010, investigators in Italy said that Toronto's 'Ndrangheta had climbed "to the top of the criminal world" with "an unbreakable umbilical cord" to Calabria. In the 2018 book, "The Good Mothers: The True Story of the Women Who Took on the World's Most Powerful Mafia", Alex Perry reports that the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta has, for the past decade, been replacing the Sicilian Cosa Nostra as the primary drug traffickers in North America.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: During a 2018 trial in Toronto, ex-mobster Carmine Guido told the court that the 'Ndrangheta is a collection of family-based clans, each with its own boss, working within a uniform structure and under board of control.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: The Canadian 'Ndrangheta is believed to be involved in various activities including the smuggling of unlicensed tobacco products through ties with criminal elements in cross-border Native American tribes. According to Alberto Cisterna of the Italian National Anti-Mafia Directorate, the 'Ndrangheta has a heavy presence in Canada. "There is a massive number of their people in North America, especially in Toronto. And for two reasons. The first is linked to the banking system. Canada's banking system is very secretive; it does not allow investigation. So Canada is the ideal place to launder money. The second reason is to smuggle drugs." The 'Ndrangheta have found Canada a useful North American entry point. The organization used extortion, loan sharking, theft, electoral crimes, mortgage and bank fraud, crimes of violence and cocaine trafficking.


title: 'Ndrangheta

text: A Canadian branch labelled the Siderno Group – because its members primarily came from the Ionian coastal town of Siderno in Calabria – is the one discussed earlier. It has been active in Canada since the 1950s, originally formed by Michele (Mike) Racco who was the head of the Group until his death in 1980. Siderno is also home to one of the 'Ndrangheta's biggest and most important clans, heavily involved in the global cocaine business and money laundering. Antonio Commisso, the alleged leader of the Siderno group, is reported to lead efforts to import "... illicit arms, explosives and drugs ..." Elements of 'Ndrangheta have been reported to have been present in Hamilton, Ontario as early as 1911. Historical crime families in the Hamilton area include the Musitanos, Luppinos and Papalias.