The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral of Tallinn is an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

in central

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

. It was built in 1894–1900, when the country was part of the former

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. The cathedral is the city's largest

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

church. The late

Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow Patriarch Alexy II (or Alexius II, ; secular name Aleksei Mikhailovich Ridiger ; 23 February 1929 – 5 December 2008) was the 15th Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. Elected Patriarch of Moscow ...

(1929–2008) started his priestly ministry in the cathedral. It is the primary cathedral of the

semi-autonomous In developmental psychology and moral, political, and bioethical philosophy, autonomy is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Autonomous organizations or institutions are independent or self-governing. Autonomy can also be def ...

Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

History

The cathedral was built onto the

Toompea Toompea (from , "Cathedral Hill") is a hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. The hill has an area of and is about 20–30 metres higher than the surrounding areas. Toompea is part of the medieval Tallinn Old Town, a ...

hill in central Tallinn to a design by architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky in a typical

Russian Revival The Russian Revival style comprises a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in the second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of Byzantine elements ( Neo-Byzantine architecture in the Russian E ...

style in 1894–1900. The church is dedicated to the

grand prince of Kiev The Grand Prince of Kiev (sometimes also Grand Duke) was the title of the monarch of Kievan Rus', residing in Kiev (modern Kyiv) from the 10th to 13th centuries. In the 13th century, Kiev became an appanage principality first of the grand prin ...

, and later Russian orthodox

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; monastic name: ''Aleksiy''; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) was Prince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263). ...

. The cathedral is richly decorated and has eleven bells cast in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, 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 the Great Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych (; Christian name: ''Basil''; 15 July 1015), given the epithet "the Great", was Prince of Novgorod from 970 and Grand Prince of Kiev from 97 ...

and the southern to St. Sergius of Radonezh. The base of the building is Finnish

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, 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 coo ...

. In the five onion domes, gilded iron crosses are seen. Inside are three gilded, carved wooden

iconostases In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () 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 anywhere within a church. The ico ...

, along with four icon boxes. The icons of the iconostasis and icon boxes were painted in Saint Petersburg on copper and zinc plates. The windows are decorated with stained glass. The cathedral was built during the period of late 19th century

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

and has been disliked by many

Estonians Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finni ...

as a symbol of former Russian oppression. During the 1944–1991

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

occupation of Estonia, as the Soviet regime was officially non-religious, many churches including the cathedral were left to fall into disrepair. The building and its interior have been meticulously restored since Estonia regained full independence in 1991.

Demolition Plans

After Estonia had become an independent country, the parliament and government, by the popular demand, had to discuss and consider removing the cathedral on multiple occasions in the 1920s and 1930s, however no final decision on the demolition of the building was ever made. In 1924 Estonian architect

Karl Burman Karl Burman sen. ( – 10 May 1965) was an Estonian architect and painter. Burman was born in Sumy, Russian Empire. His younger brother was artist Paul Burman. In 1900 he attended the Stroganov Art School in Moscow, and then between 1901 and 190 ...

proposed to demolish Cathedral or rebuild it to the Pantheon of Estonian Independence. The demolishing was planned on 1 May 1929 but was cancelled. Since 2022, the issue of demolishing or relocating the Cathedral has been revived in response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine - initially on social media and blogs - among others, Mario Kadastik, member of Estonian parliament from ruling

Estonian Reform Party The Estonian Reform Party () is a liberal political party in Estonia. The party has been led by Kristen Michal since 2024. It is colloquially known as the "Squirrel Party" () or as "the Squirrels" (), referencing its logo. It was founded in ...

proposed to create a park in its place. - and later in media publications.

Gallery

Landscape view of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.JPG, View from the top viewing platform of St. Olaf's Church Domes of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Tallinn.JPG, The cathedral domes Aleksander Nevski katedraal ja Toompea loss 2003.jpg, Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and

Toompea Castle Toompea castle () is a medieval castle on Toompea hill in the central part of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. In modern times, it houses the Parliament of Estonia (''Riigikogu''). History The Toompea castle's predecessor, an ancient Estoni ...

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Tallinn.jpg, A mosaic for Alexander Nevsky Estonia - Flickr - Jarvis-9.jpg, Image of Edessa Alexander Nevsky Cathedral - Mosaic (2001).jpg, Our Lady of the Sign Tallinn asv2022-04 img37 Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.jpg, St. Nicholas Tallinn asv2022-04 img36 Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.jpg, Vsevolod I Yaroslavich and Isidore of Kyiv Tallinn Alexander Nevski kathedraal 05.jpg, Sergius of Radonezh and Vladimir the Great

Notes

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 cathedrals Russian Revival architecture

Eastern Orthodox churches in Estonia Tallinn Old Town