Pirita Convent, Tallinn, Estonia - SpottingHistory.com

Pirita Convent (Pirita klooster) was a monastery, for both monks and nuns dedicated to St. Bridget. In 1407 two brothers from St. Bridget Order Convent in Vadstena, Sweden, had arrived to Tallinn to promote with advice and other assistance the expansion of order to Estonia. In 1417 finally the first limestone quarry permit was obtained from the town with the help of the Grandmaster of the Livonian Order and the building of the Pirita convent started. The completed church was consecrated on August 15, 1436 by Tallinn’s Bishop Heinrch II.

The Pirita Convent operated over 150 years and was the largest nunnery in Old Livonia. It was brutally destroyed by Russian army short invasion in late January 1575. In addition, the nearby village was also destroyed. The local inhabitants never restored most of the buildings. As late as in last century – in the 1930s - potato field covered the former nuns quarters and the potatoes were stored in the former hypocaust of the abbess’s residence.

Today the beautiful park with the convent ruins is administrated by the Bridgettine sisters. The museum is opened year round.

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User Reviews

Rosario Martinez Garcia (3 years ago)
A beautiful place where you can visit closed to Capital City Tallin. It's just 10 minutes by bus public and the ticket it's cheap. You can get very nice pic for few coins.

Raymond Delno (3 years ago)
Beautiful old ruines of convent. You're back in the middle ages wandering around the premises. Entrance fee reasonable (€ 2,- 2018). Note that it's being restored and thus lots of scaffolding present. Worth a visit though. Like this post please if useful. Thank you.

Kerron Mitchell (3 years ago)
Super amazing and fun exploring place!!! We loved this ruin. It was so interesting and fun to roam around and it's so much bigger than it looks! Spend some time exploring your way around. Great for families!

Francesca Giorgio (3 years ago)
It's a mystic place and you can feel it still today. There is only one big map of the archeological site outside the entrance while I would suggest to print maps so the visitors can explore the site with a guide and recognize each room and its usage. No tourist guide available.

Marc Emmanuel (3 years ago)
Very interesting ruins with a lot to see. Had a great visit for a very cheap entry fee! The best thing: you can explore all by yourself. Without "no entrance" signs everywhere. Great small adventure! Definitely visit the small cave.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Giåm

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Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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