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

Helsinki's Churches and Train Station

The Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki was built in the period from

1830 to 1840 in the neoclassical style...the church sits on a hill

and dominates the waterfront area of the city...The monument

in front of the cathedral was placed there in 1863 and is in honor

of Russian Tsar Alexander II who ruled Finland at the time.

Statue of Tsar Alexander II

The square with the monument to Tsar Alexander II in front of the

Cathedral


The beautiful Russian Orthodox Upenski Cathedral was built in 1868

when Finland was a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire




"Church built on a rock"...the hill leading up to the Cathedral is

solid granite


Side view of the Cathedral


Kallio Church Tower...The church was completed in 1912 and sits

high on a hill overlooking the city


Helsinki's Central Train Station was designed by Eliel Saarinen and

completed in 1919




Lamp holding statues on the front of the train station are the work of

Finnish sculptor Emil Wikström

The clock tower rises 160 feet


One of the large halls inside the train station


A large open area on one side of the train station


And a more modern look on the other side

Scenes in Helsinki Finland...

On August 22 I departed for a 10 day trip to northern Europe that included the countries of Finland, Estonia, Russia, and Sweden. My first stop after two days traveling and four plane rides was Helsinki, the capital of Finland...here's a few scenes around the city...