[8][9] Tartu also houses the Supreme Court of Estonia, the Ministry of Education and Research, the Estonian National Museum, and the oldest Estonian-language theatre, Vanemuine.

In Russian the city has been known as Юрьев (Yur′yev, after Yuri, the baptismal name of grand prince Yaroslav I the Wise) and as Дерпт (Derpt, from the Low German variant of Dorpat).

Archaeological evidence of the first permanent settlement on the site of modern Tartu dates to as early as the 5th century AD.

[16][17] By the 7th century, local inhabitants had built a wooden fortification on the east side of Toome Hill (Toomemägi).

[17][19] Tartu may have remained under Kievan Rus' control until 1061, when, according to the SPL, the Yuryev fort was burned down by Sosols[20] (probably Oeselians, Sackalians, or another Estonian tribe).

In 1262 the army of prince Dmitri of Pereslavl launched an assault on Dorpat, capturing and destroying the town.

In medieval times, after the Livonian Order was subsumed into the Teutonic Knights in 1236, the town became an important trading city.

[23] In the effect of the Truce of Jam Zapolski of 1582, the city along with southern regions of Livonian Confederation became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

In addition, a translators' seminary was organized in Tartu and the city received its red and white flag from the Polish king Stephen Báthory.

The town was retaken by Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on 13 April 1603 following a brief siege led by hetman Jan Karol Chodkiewicz; roughly 1000 Swedish soldiers surrendered and were escorted to Tallinn.

In 1708 the remainder of the fortifications and houses, including the remains of bishops castle, were blown up, all movable property was looted and all citizens deported to Russia.

The city was rebuilt along Late Baroque and Neoclassical lines including the Tartu Town Hall which was built between 1782 and 1789.

In the history of tuberculosis, in 1891 The Veterinary College at Dorpat produced seminal research using the Tuberculin test on 1,000 cattle.

During the interwar period Tähtvere neighbourhood was built, former Raadi Manor buildings started to house Estonian National Museum (destroyed during Tartu Offensive in 1944) and art school Pallas was opened.

During World War II, the Stalinist Soviet Union invaded and occupied Estonia and Tartu in June 1940.

After the war, the Soviet authorities declared Tartu a "closed town for foreigners", as an airbase for bombers was constructed on Raadi Airfield, in the northeast outskirts of the city.

It was one of the largest military airbases in the former Eastern Bloc and housed strategic bombers carrying nuclear bombs.

Many new commercial and business buildings have been erected (Tartu Kaubamaja, Tasku, Emajõe kaubanduskeskus, Lõunakeskus, Kvartal, etc.).

The climate is rather mild considering the high latitude, largely due to the proximity of the Baltic Sea and warm airflows from the Atlantic.

Nevertheless, continental influence can be felt on hot summer days and cold spells in winter, when the temperature can occasionally (but rarely) drop below −30 °C (−22 °F).

The food industry has traditionally been important for the town's economy and some bigger companies in the field include A.

Tartu's historic population is presented in the following table, based on data from official censuses since 1881[37] and Estonian Statistical Office.

[38] Note that the data up to 2011 is not directly comparable to the most recent numbers, as the methodology of compiling population statistics has changed.

Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, a Baltic German physician, naturalist, and entomologist, was born in Tartu.

He was one of the earliest scientific explorers of the Pacific region, making significant collections of flora and fauna in Alaska, California, and Hawaii.

The architecture and city planning of historical Tartu mainly go back to the pre-independence period, with Germans forming the upper and middle classes of society, and therefore contributing many architects, professors and local politicians.

Most notable are the old Lutheran St. John's Church (Estonian: Jaani Kirik, German: Johanneskirche), the 18th-century town hall, the university building, ruins of the 13th-century cathedral, the botanical gardens, the main shopping street, many buildings around the town hall square and Barclay Square.

At the moment Supilinn is being rapidly renovated, undergoing a slow transformation from the historic slum into a prestigious high-class neighborhood.

The Second World War destroyed large parts of the city centre and during the Soviet occupation, many new buildings were erected – notably the new Vanemuine Theater.

Typical Soviet-style neighbourhoods of blocks of high-rise flats were built between World War II and the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991, the largest such district being Annelinn.