Cold and Wet in Tallinn

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Monday 23rd June

About halfway through our tour through France, after the spate of public holidays in early May, I had consulted the internet and proudly announced that we were not going to have to deal with any more holidays; nowhere in Europe had any anniversaries or religious celebrations until after we left. I had not taken Estonia into account!

In Estonia today is Võidupüha or Victory Day which is the anniversary of the Battle of Võnnu. This Battle occurred during 1919, in the shadows of World War 1. Germany had, of course, lost the war and the Germans were suffering bread riots and food shortages. Under the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which, after the Russian Revolution, the Russian Bolsheviks had negotiated and signed with the German high command, Germany had occupied the Ukraine and the Baltic States; while WW1 still raged in the West and South. However, after the end of WW1, in late June 1919 the combined Estonian and Latvian forces combined to press for independence. On June 23 the Estonian and Latvian army clashed with the remnants of the German Landswehr during the Estonian War of Independence; handed the Germans a resounding defeat and hence, for Estonia, Victory Day.

But also tomorrow, June 24th; the only other day we would be in Estonia, was a public holiday. It was Midsummer’s Day or Jaanipäev (St John's Day).

Tallinn is described, by the Estonians, as the capital of the Limestone Coast. The city (pop around 400,000) was largely founded because the town is built alongside an excellent harbour. Like many cities in Europe, Tallinn has undergone massive expansion during the late 20th, early 21st Centuries, but has managed to confine the skyscrapers and modern hotels to the lower areas of the city, preserving the "old town". The old town lies atop a large plateau called the rock of Toompea. According to national legend the Toompea is the gravesite of an ancient Estonian king, Kalev, whose wife Linda carried all the rocks to the site in her apron. The grave was almost complete when a large rock fell from her pinafore and she collapsed upon the rock and wept, creating Lake Ulemiste which lies on the far side of the escarpment.

We met Maal in reception and headed off, albeit a little groggy and tired. The weather was fine but the clouds overhead were slate gray and threatening; no sunshine today. From the front of the hotel we could see a tall tower, part of the castle up on the Toompea rock, which was proudly flying the Estonian flag. Maal lead us up a fairly steep, hilly bitumen path through a public park. At the top she showed us a massive lump of rock that marked the end of World War 2 (for Estonians) on the 20th August 1991! This is the date on which the Russians, who invaded the country during the Second World War, finally withdrew and handed control back to the Estonian Government.

Maal led us up to the flat Toompea plateau. We passed the tower we had seen earlier, whose name is the Pikk Herman tower. The flagpost atop this is often referred to as the country's main flagpole. This tower is one of the three remaining towers that stand at the corners of the Toompea Castle, the missing one would've been the closest to Toomkoli Road we were walking along . The road opened out into a forecourt (or mall) with the Toompea Castle on the left and the Aleksander Nevski Cathedral to the right.

From our hotel the western face of the castle which we could see resembled the walls one usually associates with medieval castles; grey stone with crenulations along the top. But from our vantage point on Toomkoli Road however, the Castle is a long three storied building. Its front facade is pink with features such as columns and window-frames painted white; all this is topped by terracotta coloured roof tiles (which are ubiquitous throughout the old city). The castle is built of limestone and currently houses the Parliament Hall and its offices. Due to the public holiday we were unable to have a look inside.

The Aleksander Nevski Cathedral, on the other hand, was open. The Cathedral is an Estonian Orthodox Church (which the Estonian's refer to as simply "Orthodox", although it is actually an arm of the Russian Orthodox church) features five large cupolas and is filled with gilt icons and iconostas. (Even the bells in the belfries have icons (although not gilded) and inscriptions on them). The Iconostas is a solid screen that runs across the Eastern end of the church separating the altar area from the main body of the church. In the centre of the screen is a large double-door (the Royal Gate) which is opened during services so that the altar and any ceremonies concerned with it are visible to the congregation. .All Russian Orthodox churches have these screens.

Probably the first thing you would notice on entering a Russian Orthodox Church, apart from the glitter of gold (everything is gilded) and the massive chandeliers, is the absence of pews. During an orthodox service all the parishioners stand. These churches also have side altars and gilt pictures (icons) around the church and in the screen itself.

Icons are pictures of sacred personages which are usually gilded, that followers regard as holy objects. The iconostas here was made of gilded wood and was two-tiered (two rows of icons) and followed the usual pattern around the double doors (we learnt of these details in Moscow, but I am including them here for completeness). On the Royal Gate (the double doors) were icons for the Annunciation and icons of four Apostles-Evangelists, immediately to the right of the gate is an icon of Jesus Christ, while immediately to the left is an icon of the Blessed Virgin. The placing of an icon for Jesus on the right and Mary on the left is standard in all Russian Orthodox. At Aleksander Nevski the next two icons on each side are of the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. In the bottom tier of the iconostas, to the right, are the icon of Saint Prince Aleksander Nevski and icons of saints honoured in Estonia.

Above the Royal Gate, was a small icon for the Last Supper. In the centre of the second tier was an icon named "Deesis" (Entreaty) depicting Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin and John the Baptist. To either side of this are icons of the 12 apostles.

One other interesting item here was in St Vladimir's side-altar: a closed casket, decorated and enclosed in glass, that is purported to hold the Shroud of Christ (I'm sure the Catholic priests in Turin would be interested in this!).

As we headed back down Toomkoli Road it began to rain lightly. We folded and brollies and took refuge in the Dome Church (also known as Toomkirik, the Cathedral of St Mary the Virgin). As you may guess from the name, this is a Catholic Church but the name doesn't tell you that it dates from the 13th Century (or rather a smaller church was erected on the site then). The church has some unusual features. The first thing you immediately notice is that the pews are built into stalls and have doors which you can close separating you from the aisle. The walls are covered with centuries-old coats of arms. Although there has been an attempt to place these in ordered rows across the wall, because of their differing heights widths and method in which they are hung, they appear to be placed higgardly-piggardly.

The church also contains numerous sarcophagi, monuments and gravestones. While the most elaborate of these are carved in marble and contain busts, reliefs, or even cameos of those within, the most interesting were the fragments of gravestones from the 13th Century. These were trapezoidal stone slabs with Latin inscriptions around the edges (framed between lines above and below the writing) with symbols in the centre. Sadly, no undamaged gravestones from this era have survived.

Leaving the church Owen spotted a group of young lasses in traditional dress, standing around a wagon selling spiced, roasted almonds, and raced across and bought some.

Brollies raised, we wandered through narrow, windy streets, always heading upward, to we came to a flat area that offered a panorama of the town below. Although the views were quite spectacular they were ruined somewhat by the rain reducing visibility and increasing discomfort.

Other wet tourists were also here, most of them in groups from a couple of cruise ships that had pulled into port that morning. Although it was raining there were many Japarra clad salespeople with plastic-covered bookstands selling books, postcards and pamphlets on the sights of Tallinn. It slowly dawned on me that Tallinn was similar to Venice in that almost everyone in the town was connected to the tourist trade in some ways.

I have mentioned elsewhere that Owen was collecting medallions from all the places we visited. These usually cost a Euro for a ready-minted medallion on a blank, or a Euro and one penny when you minted your own by placing a penny in the machine, cranking the handle and embossing your flattened penny with the medallion design. We were approached by a couple of young entrepreneurs who tried to sell us a Tallinn medallion. They demonstrated how they were made; a bit more basic than elsewhere. They placed the blank on a tree stump, placed a hardened steel punch embossed with the design on top of the blank and whacked the pile with a sledge hammer. It produced a good-looking medallion, however we turned it down at the asking price of 5€ (around AUS$7.50).

We started heading downhill through winding streets, some so steep that they included steps as well as the slippery cobbles.

But the rain kept coming down quite heavily and the streets were awash. The problem was that when the old town was built, there were no storm water drains so the down pipes form the rooves simply emptied into the street adding to the torrent. All the streets were covered with rivulets and rills as the water overflowed the gullies meant to contain the rush of water. Trying to keep your footing, your brolley in place and your feet out of the streamlets became quite a task, which none of use performed perfectly.

And it just kept on raining!

Maal took us to the street that contained a number of guild houses. We sheltered in a merchant's doorway while we admired the guild house of the Brotherhood of Black Heads (Maal told it was started by a dark-skinned African). The building had impressive green double- doors with a large zipper-like design of orange diagonal stripes and studded with golden flowers between the stripes. It was built in 1587 and its front facade was also decorated with bas reliefs of the Black Heads at a tournament, Christ, justice, peace and the coats-of-arms of the Hansa trade house, among others.

Next door was the Tudor facade of St Canute's guild house which featured statues of St Canute and Martin Luther framing the upper window.

We braved the downpour again to move further down Pikk Road, Tallinn's former main street. Here we saw the massive, high-peaked House of the Great Guild. At the top of the gable is the date 1410, although the earliest reports of the guild go as far back as 1325. The high peak has alcoves carved into it in the shape of Gothic windows. The front facade above the first story is other wise featureless except for two shuttered rectangular windows and two flower shaped alcoves the inside painted pink with a white cross. The Guild house features spectacular huge, brass knockers in the shape of a lion's head.

Umbrellas raised we also had a look at the unusual clock on the outside wall of the Holy Spirit church. After a brief break for hot chocolate for some, coffee for others, we braved the drenching rain again.

In the Town Hall Square we admired the Gothic Town Hall which has been restored to its original 15th Century shape (except for the spire which had been added around 1600). Its roof featured two massive crowned green dragon's heads which were disguised water outlets and these spewed more rain-water onto the sodden cobbles. We also saw the Apothecary (which has been a chemist shop since the 1400's but unfortunately it too was closed.

Maal left us to have lunch at the Olde Hansa. This is a tourist trap, supposedly featuring medieval type meals. Marion and Owen had warming soup with bread while I had a plate of chicken with pulses and other vegetables. The only light came from an insufficient number of candles and this made dealing with my chicken difficult. We would discover tomorrow that the poor lighting had other more serious consequences.

Brollies up we were discussing whether to walk back to our hotel or catch a taxi when the rain strengthened to monsoon proportions, which settled the question; a cab it was!

Once back to the hotel Marion opted for a hot, soaky bath, and was followed by Owen who did likewise. I had a warm shower to try to ease the coldness out of my bones.

Tallinn had turned into a massive disappointment. Marion had been so looking forward to seeing her mother's birthplace. First, we had lost her mother's recollections of the city (they had been mailed to Topsy's and disappeared along with our plans for Britain), then we had been given a guide who, although she tried very hard, was hindered by her poor command of English but the visit had been totally ruined by the atrocious weather. Owen and I also got the impression that Tallinn was very much a tourist city and lacked its own character and soul.

However I'm sure that at least Marion and I will be revisiting the city and giving it a second chance at some time in the future.

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Photos

The Pikk Herman Tower
The Pikk Herman Tower, one of three remaining in Toompea Castle.

End of WWII
This rock, situated in a public park, marks the end of World War II for the Estonians.

The Aleksander Nevski
The Aleksander Nevski Cathedral, in Tallinn.

Tallinn
A photo of some streets in Tallinn, and the colourful buildings that fill the old part of the city.

Wall
Part of an old wall we saw in Tallinn, on our way up a steep hill.

Panorama
A beautiful view over the city of Tallinn.

Tallinn
A photograph across Tallinn, showing the old town, and the skyscrapers beyond.

The Brotherhood of Black Heads
The Guildhouse of the Brotherhood of Black Heads had an extremely garish door.

Hot Chocolate
Owen had a hot chocolate when we had a coffee to escape the rain. Talk about Thick!

Rain
The amount of water on the tiles in this square gives you an idea of the rain!