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the quarter for small courtyards, as most of the available space was occupied by the
houses that bordered Niguliste Street. During the Middle Ages the buildings bordering
Dunkri Street were mostly used as granaries and as modest dwelling. After the separation
of smaller Dunkri Street facing plots from bigger ones facing Niguliste Street many
buildings were reconstructed, traces of the pre-reconstruction period can still be found.
For example: many timber floor layers dating back to 14–15th century were revealed on
Dunkri 5 plot's cellar.
Dunkri 13 plot was different from other plots bordering Dunkri Street. It was a long and
narrow building with a gable facing Dunkri Street. Its medieval forms had been preserved
until its destruction in 1944. The records from the city's immovable's registry show that
Dunkri 13 had been occupied by shoemakers from the second half of the 15th century
until the 18th century.
Despite its occupants profession, Dunkri 13 represents a typical example of medieval
diele-dornse type merchant's building. The building's cellar level followed a diele-dornse
type of ground plan, which is confirmed e. g. by the depiction of a hypocaust on one of
Johann Naha's drawings and heating room found during the excavations. The extant
drawings and the results from the 1982 excavations suggest that the Dunkri 13 building
was originally probably built as a merchants house.
The excavations opened up three cellars and a stair platform on the eastern side of the
plot. Despite its low-key measurements, Dunkri 13 displayed many characteristics similar
to wealthy merchant's house on Lai 23, which was conclusively shaped by the middle of
15th century. The historic records show that Dunkri 13 plot's first mentioning dates back
to the late 15th century. The similarities between Lai 23 and Dunkri 13 suggest that the
aforementioned Dunkri 13 dates back to the middle of 1400s. It was most probably
originally built by a St John's almshouse or merchant and later refitted for the needs of
handicraftsmen.
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