Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral ( et, Aleksander Nevski katedraal, russian: Александро-Невский собор) is an
The cathedral is richly decorated and has eleven bells cast in
Aleksander Nevski katedraal - Tallinn
– Travel Estonia (in Estonian) that the Estonian authorities scheduled the cathedral for demolition in 1924, but the decision was never implemented due to lack of funds and the building's massive construction.
Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral's page in Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate website
* ttp://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?s=3&sType=Rel&r=02fCathedrals+--+Estonia+--+Tallinn Aleksandro-Nevskii Cathedral 1894
360° QTVR fullscreen panorama
of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral's interior {{Churches in Tallinn Churches in Tallinn Cathedrals in Estonia Kesklinn, Tallinn Churches completed in 1900 20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Church buildings with domes Eastern Orthodox church buildings Russian Revival architecture
orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...
on Toompea
Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...
hill in central Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
, Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. It was built to a design by Mikhail Preobrazhensky
Mikhail Timofeevich Preobrazhensky (russian: Михаил Тимофеевич Преображенский; 1854–1930) was a Russian architect, teacher, architectural historian, academic and restorer. He was an active member of both the Imperi ...
in a typical Russian Revival
The Russian Revival style (historiographical names are: ''Russian style'', russian: русский стиль, ''Pseudo-Russian style'', russian: псевдорусский стиль, ''Neo-Russian style'', russian: нео-русский стил ...
style in 1894–1900, when the country was part of the Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
. The cathedral is Tallinn's largest orthodox cupola
In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.
The word derives, via Italian, from ...
church. It is dedicated to the grand prince of Kiev
The Grand Prince of Kiev (sometimes grand duke) was the title of the ruler of Kiev and the ruler of Kievan Rus' from the 10th to 13th centuries. In the 13th century, Kiev became an appanage principality first of the grand prince of Vladimir and ...
, and later saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
, Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (russian: Александр Ярославич Невский; ; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) served as Prince of Novgorod (1236–40, 1241–56 and 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1236–52) and Grand P ...
who in 1242 won the Battle of the Ice
The Battle on the Ice (german: Schlacht auf dem Eise; russian: Ледовое побоище, ''Ledovoye poboishche''; et, Jäälahing), alternatively known as the Battle of Lake Peipus (german: Schlacht auf dem Peipussee), took place on 5 Apr ...
on Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus ( et, Peipsi-Pihkva järv; russian: Чудско-Псковское озеро, Псковско-Чудское озеро, Chudsko-Pskovskoye ozero, Pskovsko-Chudskoye ozero); is the largest trans-boundary lake in Europe, lying on ...
, near the present-day border between Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
and Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. The late Russian patriarch Alexis II started his priestly ministry in the church.
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral crowns the hill of Toompea
Toompea (from german: Domberg, "Cathedral Hill") is a limestone hill in the central part of the city of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. The hill is an oblong tableland, which measures about 400 by 250 metres, has an area of and is about 20–30 ...
which is one of several places where, according to legend, Kalev, father of the hero of the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg
''Kalevipoeg'' (, ''Kalev's Son'') is a 19th century epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald which has since been considered the Estonian national epic.
Origins
In pre-Christian ancient Estonia there existed an oral tradition of legends e ...
, is said to have been buried. As the USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
was officially non-religious, many churches including the cathedral were left to fall into disrepair. The church has been meticulously restored since the end of the Soviet occupation of Estonia
The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
in 1991.
Construction and interior
The cathedral is richly decorated and has eleven bells cast in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, the largest of which weighs about 16 tons, more than the other ten combined. It has three altars, with the northern altar dedicated to Vladimir I Vladimir I may refer to:
* Vladimir I of Kiev
Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimi ...
and the southern to St. Sergius of Radonezh
Sergius of Radonezh (russian: Се́ргий Ра́донежский, ''Sergii Radonezhsky''; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392), also known as Sergiy Radonezhsky, Serge of Radonezh and Sergius of Moscow, was a spiritual leader and monastic ref ...
.
The base of the building is Finnish granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
. In the five onion domes, gilded iron crosses are seen. Inside are three gilded, carved wooden iconostases
In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed a ...
, along with four icon boxes. The icons of the iconostasis and icon boxes were painted in St. Petersburg on copper and zinc plates. The windows are decorated with stained glass.
Demolition plans
The cathedral was built during the period of late 19th centuryRussification
Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...
and was disliked by many Estonians
Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language.
The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other ...
as a symbol of oppression– Travel Estonia (in Estonian) that the Estonian authorities scheduled the cathedral for demolition in 1924, but the decision was never implemented due to lack of funds and the building's massive construction.
See also
*List of cathedrals in Estonia
This is a list of cathedrals in Estonia sorted geographically.
See also
* List of churches in Estonia
* List of cathedrals (international)
References
{{Europe topic, List of cathedrals in, countries_only=yes
Cathedrals in Estonia
Cathedrals ...
*Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Warsaw
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral ( pl, Sobór św. Aleksandra Newskiego, russian: Александро-Невский собор) was a Russian Orthodox Cathedral in Saxon Square built in Warsaw, Poland, then a part of the Russian Empire. The cathe ...
, demolished after the restoration of Polish independence.
* St. Panteleimon's Cathedral
*List of large Orthodox cathedrals
This is a list of the largest Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox church buildings in the world, based on area and capacity. Any Eastern Orthodox church building that has a capacity of 3,000 people or more, can be added to this page. Entries ...
References
External links
Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral's page in Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate website
* ttp://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?s=3&sType=Rel&r=02fCathedrals+--+Estonia+--+Tallinn Aleksandro-Nevskii Cathedral 1894
Photos and videos
360° QTVR fullscreen panorama
of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral's interior {{Churches in Tallinn Churches in Tallinn Cathedrals in Estonia Kesklinn, Tallinn Churches completed in 1900 20th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Church buildings with domes Eastern Orthodox church buildings Russian Revival architecture
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...
Eastern Orthodox churches in Estonia