Gunpowder Cellar of Tartu

The Gunpowder Cellar (Estonian: Püssirohukelder) is a historic building in Tartu, Estonia which now functions as a beer restaurant.

The name is derived from the restaurant's location: it is situated in an 18th-century gunpowder cellar constructed in 1768–1778 by order of Catherine II of Russia on the site of an earlier fort, making use of the natural valley and pre-existing very thick brick walls for added safety.

[1] At the end of the 19th century the building began to be used by the University of Tartu[1] which meant that lectures and scientific work were often conducted on top of gunpowder barrels.

[2] In the 1990s it functioned as a large medieval restaurant before reopening in 2001 as a pub and disco[3] though retaining a wine cellar.

It boasts a regular cultural programme, including a number of plays by the Vanemuine theatre.