Monday, September 5, 2011

Tallinn Estonia

During one of the days I was in Helsinki I took a day trip to Tallinn Estonia. It's 50 miles across the Gulf of Finland from Helsinki to Tallinn and a fast ferry ride brought me there in an hour and a half. The old town dates from the Middle Ages when the city was a member of the Hanseatic League and is extremely well preserved. The photos overlooking the old town were taken from St Olaf's Church which was the tallest building in the world from 1549 to 1625, it's tower is currently 406 ft but originally reached 522 ft.







The tower of St Olaf's Church (Lutheran) note the people standing
on the railing...




St Olaf's Tower


Looking toward the altar in St Olaf's


Inside St Olaf's


















Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Russian Orthodox)


Detail on the front of the Cathedral


The next three photos are inside the Cathedral










8 comments:

  1. Remarkable preservation of those stone gates, walls & turrets! That's a great photo of them in 13th photo down.

    Amazing to think that there were actual, living people, once, inside those turrets, looking out those slit-windows in the tower walls.. and now, centuries later, you can touch those same stones, pass thru the same gates and walk the same streets.

    From your higher up shots, it's easy to picture Tallinn as a bustling center of medieval trade.

    Can almost hear the clacketty-clack of 13th Century Crusaders horses hooves on the streets & picture them passing through the highly arched gates on horseback.

    Can tell from your photos that your Lutheran heritage was an important part of your Scandinavian trip.

    Are those church interior photos the inside of St. Olaf's? Wow, that's from 12th Century!

    Still amazed at how intact much of the "old city" is.. even after Soviet Russian air force bombing in World War II.

    I think my favorite photo is #2, it just looks "so right" to be a Medieval city!

    Thanks for taking the time to post these photos, I'm really enjoying looking at them!

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  2. Thanks so much Gail for the nice comments...and yes the interior photos are from St Olaf's I went back and labeled them...

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  3. What a beautiful city! I had the privilege of helping to host a BBQ team from Tallinn one year and always thought I'd like to go. The city and weather seems PERFECT during your visit!

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  4. It is an exceptionaly beautiful city and yes the weather was perfect...one of the nicest days of my lifetime I think!

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  5. What a beautiful place. Love the colors of the buildings. It looks like a very neat and tidy place...was it?

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  6. I've been trying to recall why the city name Tallinn sounded so familiar to me??

    Now I remember! the Moscow 1980 Summer Olympics yachting/sailing competitions took place there!

    The estuary to the Gulf of Finland at the Bay of Tallinn hosted the sailing events.

    That was President Jimmy Carter era, and the 1980 Moscow Olympic games boycott was a part of Carter's actions to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in Dec. 1979.

    Pres. Carter threatened to revoke the Passports of any athletes trying to travel to the USSR.

    67 nations did not participate in the 1980 Summer Olympics because of US-led boycott. 80 nations did participate. Some of the athletes from boycotting countries competed under the Olympic Flag.

    That (1980) was also the first time, ever, the Olympic Games were held in a Socialist country. Leonid Brezhnev era.

    Uhh.. excuse me, BUT hasn't the USA been warring inside Afghanistan for years? Will we have to boycott our own Olympic games now?? Let's ask Jimmy Carter!

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  7. Good stuff Gail...and yes Dawn the city was very clean and the buildings were very well kept up and looked so nice it was hard to believe they were centuries old...

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  8. I marvel at the age of everything, not only that they are still standing but the quality and beauty of the workmanship!

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