The college building

Narva College has engaged in a mission to enhance awareness about the history of the city among locals as well as guests. The inauguration of the new college building was also vital in reviving the city’s history. The college is situated in the heart of Narva’s old town, next to the surviving baroque Town Hall.

The modern building combines an innovative study environment featuring present-day conveniences, while paying homage to the former old town. The oddly protruding roof commemorates the once stately stock-exchange building, which, before its destruction in the war, used to partly screen the Town Hall from public view.

The present college building begins directly behind the location of the former stock exchange so as to leave the Town Hall fully visible this time. All that remains of the stock-exchange building are the underground walls and the basements, which were restored at the time of the college’s construction and are now used for exhibitions, concerts and theatrical events.

Allusions to the city’s history are also noticeable inside the college building. Walls of lecture rooms, for example, are coloured according to fashions that were followed in baroque Narva, and it is no coincidence that the college’s window-pane patterns resemble those of the neighbouring Town Hall.

On a rainy day, one can see our version of the famous Narva waterfalls in the courtyard of the college. Those who have some time to spare can take the lift to Floor 4 and look down at the street from the high protruding roof ‘beak’ — this is intended for guests’ enjoyment, just like the entire building, which has developed into a tourist attraction of Narva.