Medieval Tartu was founded in 1224 after the Teutonic Order captured the old Estonian trading settlement at the location. A bishopric was established in Tartu, and at the end of the 13th century the town was the easternmost of all Hanseatic towns. Trade routes from Tartu led as far as Novgorod, and from the 16th century to the mid-16th century the town prospered as a centre between east and west. The medieval Tartu, on top of which a new town was built from the 18th century onwards, has been the subject of intensive archaeological research.
