Tallinn palaces and churches

The morning began with a visit to the Baroque Kadriorg Palace, built by Peter the Great of Russia in the early 18th c for his wife Catherine. Peter ruled Russia from 1682 - 1725 and acquired Estonia by defeating the Swedes in the Great Northern War in 1721. After Peter died, it took 100 years to complete the palace. It’s surrounded by a beautiful garden and a large park.

After lunch, we saw more of the historic center of Tallinn, a Hanseatic city founded in 1154. The Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral was spectacular, though Estonians don’t go there because it’s Russian. There is genuine loathing for anyone or anything Russian.

We ended with an organ concert at the former St Nicholas Church. The gothic church was a magnificent setting for the organ music. Tom and I stayed on to watch a new group practicing. In addition to the organ, they included a bassoon, a cello, an oboe, a base violin, a violin and 3 vocalists whose voices were befitting the setting.

We encountered a set of darling 19 year old German twin boys there who were seeing Scandinavia, the Baltics and Poland as part of their gap year. We traded lots of information on those areas and on being multiples.

We learned that Estonia is not religious in the traditional manner. They are animists and revere nature. The Swedes imposed the Lutheran religion and Russians the orthodox religion but only 25% of Estonians practice either of those religions.

We learned a lot. It was a very satisfying day!Читать далее