St. Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn (, full name: ''Tallinna Püha Neitsi Maarja Piiskoplik Toomkirik'', german: Ritter- und Domkirche, , also known as ''
Dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
Church'') is a cathedral church located 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
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 ...
. Originally established by
Danes
Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
Danes generally regard t ...
in the 13th century, it is the oldest church in Tallinn and mainland Estonia. It is also the only building in Toompea which survived a 17th-century fire.
Toomkirik
/ref>
Originally a Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
cathedral, it became Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...
in 1561 and now belongs to the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Church ...
. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Tallinn, the spiritual leader of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, and chairman of that church's governing synod.
History
The first church was made of wood most likely already and built by 1219, when the Danes
Danes ( da, danskere, ) are a North Germanic ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
Danes generally regard t ...
invaded Tallinn. In 1229, when the Dominican friars arrived, they started building a stone church replacing the old wooden one. The monks were killed in a conflict between the Knights of the Sword and vassals supporting the pope's legate in 1233, and the church was thus desecrated. A letter asking permission to consecrate it anew was sent to Rome in 1233, and this is the first record of the church's existence.[Official home page](_blank)
/ref>
The Dominicans could not finish the building and built only the base walls. The building was completed in 1240, and it was a one-aisled building with a rectangular chancel.
In 1240, it was also named cathedral and consecrated in honour of the Virgin Mary. In the beginning of the 14th century, reconstruction of the church began. The church was made bigger. The reconstruction began with building a new chancel. At about the same time, the new vestry was built.
The enlargement of the one-aisled building to a three-aisled building began in the 1330s. The construction work, however, lasted almost 100 years. The new longitudinal part of the church, 29 meters long, built by following the principles of basilica, was completed in the 1430s. The nave's rectangular pillars had been completed in the second half of the 14th century, though.
The church suffered considerable damage in the great fire of 1684 when the entire wooden furnishings were destroyed. Some vaults collapsed and many stone-carved details were severely damaged – especially in the chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
.
In 1686, after the fire, the church was practically rebuilt to restore it to its previous state. The new pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
with figures of the apostles (1686) and the altarpiece
An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...
(1696) were made by the Estonian sculptor and carver Christian Ackermann
Christian Ackermann was a sculptor and carver who worked in Estonia.
Life and work
Christian Ackermann was born in Königsberg. He worked in Riga, Stockholm, and Gdańsk, before becoming active in Tallinn from about 1672 until his death in 171 ...
.
The Dome Church's exterior dates from the 15th century, the spire dates from the 18th century. Most of the church's furnishings go back to the 17th and 18th centuries. From 1778 to 1779, a new baroque spire was built in the western part of the nave.
One should also mention the numerous different kinds of tombstones from the 13th–18th centuries, the stone-carved sarcophagi from the 17th century, also the altar and chancel, chandeliers, numerous coats of arms from the 17th–20th centuries. Two of the church's four bells date back to 17th century, two date to the 18th century. The organ was made in 1914.
Among the people buried in the cathedral are the Bohemian nobleman Jindřich Matyáš Thurn
Count Jindřich Matyáš of Thurn-Valsassina (german: Heinrich Matthias Graf von Thurn und Valsassina; it, Enrico Matteo Conte della Torre di Valsassina) (24 February 1567 – 26 January 1640), was one of the leaders of the Protestant Bohemian ...
, one of leaders of the Protestant revolt against Emperor Ferdinand II and in events that led to the Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
; the Swedish soldier Pontus De la Gardie
Baron Pontus De la Gardie (c. 1520 – 5 November 1585) was a French nobleman and a general in the service of Denmark and Sweden.
Life and career
He was born Ponce d'Escouperie in Caunes-Minervois (Aude), Languedoc, a son of Jacques Escop ...
and his wife, Sofia Johansdotter Gyllenhielm
Sofia Johansdotter Gyllenhielm (1556/59 – June 1583), was a Swedish noble, the illegitimate daughter of King John III of Sweden and Karin Hansdotter.
Life
She spent her early childhood with her mother in Turku Castle in the Duchy of Finl ...
( John III's daughter); as well as the Scotsman Samuel Greig
Vice-Admiral Samuel Greig, or Samuil Karlovich Greig (russian: Самуи́л Ка́рлович Грейг), as he was known in Russia (30 November 1735, Inverkeithing, Fife, Scotland – 26 October 1788, Tallinn, Governorate of Estonia, Esto ...
(formerly Samuil Karlovich Greig of the Russian Navy); the Swedish field marshal
Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
s and cousins Otto Wilhelm and Fabian von Fersen
Baron Fabian von Fersen (February 7, 1626 – July 30, 1677) was a Swedish general, freelord, field-marshal and Governor-General in the Swedish Realm, governor general of Skåne, Halland and Blekinge. He served the Swedish Empire in multip ...
; and the Russian navigator, Adam Johann von Krusenstern
Adam Johann von Krusenstern (also Krusenstjerna in Swedish; russian: Ива́н Фёдорович Крузенште́рн, tr. ; 10 October 177012 August 1846) was a Russian admiral and explorer, who led the first Russian circumnavigation o ...
.
Gallery
File:St. Mary's cathedral.jpg, Exterior
File:Altar of St. Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn.JPG, Altar at the cathedral
File:Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn.JPG, Interior scene
File:Tombs in St Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn.JPG, Tombs inside the cathedral
File:Sophia Gyllenhielm grave image.jpg, Detail of Sophia's grave monument
File:Organ at St Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn.JPG, Organ inside the cathedral
File:Right Interior of St Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn.JPG, Interior scene
File:Tallinna Toomkiriku torni muna ja tuulelipp.jpg, Weather vane
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 ...
* 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 ...
* 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 ' ...
References
{{Authority control
Churches in Tallinn
Lutheran cathedrals
Lutheran churches in Estonia
Cathedrals in Estonia
Gothic architecture in Estonia
13th-century establishments in Estonia
13th-century churches in Estonia
Pre-Reformation Roman Catholic cathedrals