In terms of architecture, Tartu is known as a classicist city because most of the buildings of the heritage-protected Old Town were built in the classicist and later neoclassical style of the 19th century. It is rare to find buildings in Tartu that were built earlier than in the last quarter of the 18th century, as the city has been destroyed several times due to both looting and fires. Time has moved on and architecture has changed, which is why you can admire magnificent examples of mediaeval as well as modern architecture while walking in the city centre.