The Church of Holy Spirit, Tallinn, Estonia

The Church of Holy Spirit is the only sacred building from 14th-century Tallinn preserved its original form. The church was originally founded as part of the neighbouring Holy Spirit Almshouse, which tended to the town's sick and elderly. Throughout Medieval times it remained the primary church of the common folk. First Estonian-language sermons were held there, and the famous Livonian chronicler Balthasar Russow worked as a teacher there in the late 16th century.

Before entering the church, take a look at the façade, where there is clock that has been measuring time since the 17th century. The interior is richly decorated an exquisite example of wooden sculpture from the Gothic era. The altar, commissioned from Berndt Notke in 1483, is one of the four most precious medieval works of art in Estonia. Services in English are held every Sunday at 15:00. Musical hours are held each Monday starting at 18:00.

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User Reviews

Jaak Tuksam (3 years ago)
It’s a medival Church, formerly Roman Catholic, now Lutheran.

Eileen Weed (4 years ago)
It is worth the small 1.50 Euro entry fee to see the inside of this church from the early 1300s! There is interesting art from many hundreds of years ago, plus the fee helps the maintenance. I was in Tallinn on a 9-hour stopover on a Norwegian Getaway 9-day Baltic Cruise in August 2019. Rick Steves "Scandinavian & Northern European Cruise Ports" Guidebook was a great help and this church was part of the self-guided "Tallinn Walk" in the book.

Claudiu (4 years ago)
Old 13 century church which is very simple in architecture but has a very overwhelming woodwork interior that is a must see when in the city I had the pleasure of being accompanied during my visit by an organ repetition that sounded wonderful The highlight is the woodwork and paintings, very well crafted, you really feel taken back half a millennium

Julius Golstein (4 years ago)
Great ancient Church with mystical spiritual atmosphere and old metaphysical symbols the Human history...

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