In Tallinn, Estonia, as in many other cities, the history of its cathedrals tells the history of centuries of religious disputes, warring conquerors and national aspirations. And, in Tallinn’s case, it has left two monuments whose differences could hardly be more striking.
There are actually three significant cathedrals, but the Roman Catholic one is a fairly small late-comer, nowhere near as impressive as the Lutheran one whose origins are in the 13th-century and the Orthodox cathedral that marks the height of 19th-century Russification by Estonia’s then-ruler, the Tsar of Russia.
The differences between the two are not only of religion and national origins, but also, not surprisingly, of style. St Mary’s Cathedral is dark stone, full of ancient memorials, tombs and coats of arms; the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is bright with polished tile floors, brightly-decorated columns and an opulence that seems almost Hollywood dream.
Estonia came under Russian rule in 1710, taking from Sweden an area whose towns and economy were dominated by Baltic Germans, while rural Estonians were still enslaved until early in the 19th century. During that century, the largely German Lutheran cathedral continued to be the most prominent.
But over the course of the century, two big changes occurred: growth of a national feeling including revival of Estonian language and literature, and a campaign by the Tsar to ‘Russify’ such outlying regions and ensure their loyalty. More Russians arrived, and a new Orthodox cathedral was ordered built to show off who was in charge.
Despite its great beauty and how fervently today’s Estonian tourism industry urges visitors to visit, the Orthodox cathedral was unpopular from the beginning with Estonian nationalists. So much so that when Estonia became an independent country after World War I, the parliament and government, by popular demand, seriously considered demolishing it. The subject was still on the table when World War II rendered it moot.
During the post-war era, when Estonia was a republic within the USSR, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, like many other churches, were left to fall into disrepair or complete disuse. After Estonia became independent again in 1991, a great deal of funds and work went into making it shine again as it does today.
From Alexander Nevsky’s hilltop position, directly across from the Parliament building, it’s possible to pick out the spire of Tallinna Püha Neitsi Maarja Piiskoplik Toomkirik, or the Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Mary.
It is the oldest church in Tallinn. The first existing record of it is a letter to the Pope in 1233, asking permission to re-consecrate it after it was desecrated by Knights of the Sword, who killed the Dominican monks who ran it that year. It was founded perhaps twenty years previously by invading Danes.
After that, it grew in fits and starts, and was named a cathedral in 1240. Originally a one-aisled building, two more aisles were added between 1330 and 1430. A new chancel was built, and a tower. And then, the process began over again after damage by the Great Fire of 1684; the church was the only building on its hill to survive.
The image just above was our One-Clue Mystery this week.
Most of today’s rather plain exterior dates from the 1400s, the present tower is from the 1700s, and most of the furnishings are from the century that followed the fire. The organ is relatively new: It’s just over a hundred years old.
Perhaps the most notable and noticeable aspect of St Mary’s is the amazing number of memorials, monuments and coats of arms with which it is adorned and the numbers of tombs of various kinds.
With the Reformation, St Mary’s became a Lutheran cathedral; public Catholic worship was banned in Tallinn for three centuries.
Among those entombed in St Mary’s are a galaxy of people well-known in their time if not today; the list gives a hint of the social and political changes over the church’s time: Bohemian nobleman Jindřich Matyáš Thurn, one of leaders of the Protestant revolt against Emperor Ferdinand II that led to the Thirty Years’ War; the Swedish general Pontus De la Gardie and his wife, daughter of the Swedish king, , Sofia Johansdotter Gyllenhielm (King John III’s daughter); the Scotsman Samuel Greig who commanded Catherine the Great’s navy; two Swedish field marshals and Adam Johann von Krusenstern, a Baltic German and Russian admiral who helped build Russia’s pacific fur trade.
Among all the ancient memorials and markers, there is one quite new one, this memorial to the over 900 passengers and crew who died when the ferry MS Estonia sank on a voyage from Tallinn to Stockholm in September, 1994.
