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.

References:

Comments

Your name



Address

Pühavaimu 2, Tallinn, Estonia
See all sites in Tallinn

Details

Founded: 1319
Category: Religious sites in Estonia
Historical period: Danish and Livonian Order (Estonia)

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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...
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Linderhof Palace

Linderhof is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.

Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his building activities in 1867-1868 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle. In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.

Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.