Orthodox church of St. Olav, Tallinn: history and photo

The Church of St. Olaf is one of the most beautiful sights in Tallinn, built in the 13th century. From its site it is very good to carry out an inspection of the city.

City's legends

There is a tradition about this place. It says that the construction of the church was made in order to create in the territory of Tallinn an unusually high for that time construction. The merchants had to see it from their ships, swam to the shore.

A grandiose plan was agreed upon by a master unfamiliar to the townspeople. As a reward, he asked for ten barrels of gold, which he would have to hand over to the end of the work.

Residents of the city said that the price is too high. Then the unknown changed the condition and said that the customers should name his name as payment. If they succeed, he will build the building completely free of charge.

The deal was concluded, but when the deadline matched, Tallinn began to panic. They did not have the right amount of money. And then a spy was sent to the builder's wife. When she rocked before the baby slept, she mentioned his father's name. It turned out that his name was Olev. So the inhabitants of the city were able to fulfill the condition of the master.

The architect was annoyed that he lost the opportunity to receive a reward for his work. He was at a great height when he found out about it. In anger, Olev released a cross, for which he held, and fell to the ground. At the time of death, a snake and a frog came out of his mouth. The legend explains this by the fact that the builder of the temple dealt with dark forces, for only they could help in creating such a magnificent structure.

The remaining information

A rather interesting story is inherent in the structure. Before the appearance of the holy temple on this land, there was a courtyard where merchants from Scandinavia traded. From 1015 to 1028 years, Olaf Haraldsson, who was later ranked among the saints, ruled here. In his honor, in fact, the church of St. Olaf was named.

Photos of this place amaze with its beauty and attract large flows of people. The building is quite old. The first information about it appeared only in 1267, when church activity was already in full swing.

The higher organization that patronized the temple, was a Cistercian monastery for women named after. St. Michael. Scandinavian merchants provided funds, through which the Church of St. Olaf (Tallinn) could function. In the 1420s, its expansion and large-scale restructuring were carried out. There were updated choirs and basilica, which were decorated with pillars with four facets. The main nave was decorated with star arches.

Distinctive features

Further refinements were made, so that in the beginning of the 16th century, The main tower together with the spire was 159 meters high. At that time, there was no higher construction in the whole world.

Sailors saw the spire while still in the sea, and could navigate through it in search of the shore. Certainly, for such beauty and majesty it was necessary to pay off with some risks associated with them.

The high spire attracted lightning, which beat him eight times. Three times, as a result of the thunderstorm, fires took place, which brought tremendous destruction.

For many years, which existed the church of St. Olaf, history has seen everything. The triumph, which reached the temple, in the minds of people was overshadowed by the grandiose fire that happened in 1625-m. The fire was visible even on the Finnish shores. Then the primacy of beauty and greatness had to be abandoned to the Church of St. Mary (Stiralsund).

Interesting Facts

There are records describing the changes that the Church of St. Olaf experienced. At the moment the building rises to 123.7 m. The city government has passed a resolution that none of the nearby buildings should be higher than this building.

From the records of B. Russov, a famous chronicler, you can find out that in 1547 in Tallinn there were rope-walkers. They stretched a cane between the tower and the wall of the fortress, on which they showed tricks.

In the period from 1513 to 1523 years architects were engaged in the construction of the chapel of the Virgin Mary, whose style is attributed to the late Gothic. At the outer wall you can find a cenotaph - a symbolic burial dedicated to H. Paulus, who was the initiator of the structure. Here are depicted the Passion of Christ on eight reliefs.

Association of denominations

The Reformation, which began on the territory of Tallinn in September 1524, affected the church of St. Olaf. Since then, she was in charge of the Lutherans. In the 18th century, the epicenter of the pietistic Estonian awakening unfolded here.

In 1736, there was Count von Zinzendorf, who led the sermons. During the 19th century, evangelists also preached here. Their words strongly influenced the people of that time.

The graceful architecture of the buildings here led the visiting travelers into admiration. The poem dedicated to the temple is known . Vyazemsky, who several times had time to visit here.

Until 1944 the building was run by the Lutheran German community. In 1950, power over the temple passed to VSEHB. Baptists, Christians and Pentecostals began to pray here. The church was called united. Presbyters here were O. Tjark and O. Olvik.

The Church of St. Olaf is the place where the unity of people, confessing different confessions, took place in one family. Today, there was a thorough renovation. After the war, the temple for a long time did not conduct an active activity, so the renovation of the building was simply necessary.

In 1981, a baptistery appeared here. All Estonian brotherhood considered this shrine to be one of the most important. The presbyters spent hours of prayer and Bible reading, on Sundays there were services similar to a spiritual type conference. From 1978 to 1980, there was an "awakening" in which many people from all over the Soviet Union participated.

The most interesting

Having learned, where the church of St. Olaf is located and coming here for informational purposes, it can be noted that for the choir and music excellent conditions are created here due to good acoustics. Now there is a large number of ensembles that are extremely interesting and pleasant to listen to. There is an excellent organ, whose presence makes the sound voluminous.

What else should you pay attention first, if there is very little time to properly consider the church of St. Olaf? Sightseeing, famous for the temple, is, first of all, the vaults of a star-shaped form, on which a beautiful figure was created with frame arches.

Also, you can not ignore the sculptural relief, which can be seen by looking at the altar. The beautiful building is the chapel of the Virgin Mary, located on the east side. And, of course, we should pay attention to the cenotaph in honor of H. Pauls.

Once in Tallinn, be sure to look into the part of the city where the church of St. Olaf is located. Its address: st. Lai, house 50. This is the most beautiful work of architecture, in which all the most subtle and sublime features of Gothic are intertwined.