The Secret Cellar of Wilde & Vilde is one of Tartu’s most atmospheric little hideaways — part curiosity, part time capsule. Beneath the busy Town Hall Square, this pub and café sits quietly, named after Oscar Wilde and Eduard Vilde (an Irish playwright known for his sharp wit, and an Estonian writer known for realist novels and social criticism), whose bronze statues appear to chat eternally on a bench just outside. They never actually met in real life, but Tartu, with its love of clever fiction, insists on the friendship anyway.

Inside, the cellar is a low-ceilinged warren of arched brick rooms, candlelit corners, and uneven floors. It smells of old paper, beer, and slow conversations. There are shelves of books, mismatched chairs, soft lamps, and a piano tucked away in one corner. It feels like the kind of place where students plot revolutions, poets drown deadlines in red wine, and ghosts of old writers linger just long enough to eavesdrop.

You can settle in with a local beer or mulled wine, flip through a dog-eared book, or simply soak in the timeworn stillness. Conversations float gently in the background — usually in Estonian, sometimes in German, Russian, or English. You might overhear talk of poetry, programming, politics, or nothing at all.

Dogs are welcome too, especially well-mannered ones who know how to nap under the table while their humans sip and dream.

To find it, start at the Wilde & Vilde statue on Vallikraavi Street. The door to the cellar is around the corner — easy to miss if you’re not looking for something a little out of step with time. But once you descend, you may not want to come back up.