Tallinn Song Festival Grounds, Tallinn, Estonia

The Tallinn Song Stage (Lauluväljak) was built in 1959 for the Estonian Song Festival. The stage was meant to hold over 15,000 singers but it’s also possible to use it the other way – the performance will take place in front of the stage and audience is sitting on the stage.

The stage was the main places of the Estonian revolution and new independence in 1988-1991. Estonians gathered there to sing patriotic hymns in what became known as the Singing Revolution that led to the overthrow of Soviet rule.

User Reviews

Kai-Kristel Ehala (6 months ago)
It is a beautiful place. In winter you can do winter activities with sled, snowboard, skies and etc. In summer you can enjoy concerts, walks and other festivals.

Daniel DeNinno (7 months ago)
Seeing the Laulupidau here in 2019 was absolutely amazing. I can see why people from around the world gather to participate and view this great event. Even though there were more people around than I've ever seen in one place, it wasn't that difficult to move around. Plus, the sloped seating makes it so it's not difficult to see or hear. Smoked cheese braids were delicious :)

Sam Tambago (8 months ago)
Spacious venue for concerts and sports events!

Zimm ZX (11 months ago)
The Tallinn Song Festival Grounds are a sight in itself. Having hosted events since 1928, it's quite old for a festival ground. It's proximity to the Kadriorg park allows is of course a plus. However there really isn't much to do here if there isn't a festival being held. You can freely explore the festival grounds and climb a tower for some nice views, but that's pretty much it. If you're in the area, sure, you can visit. However you shouldn't come this far just for the festival grounds.

Ruxellan (16 months ago)
Tallinn song festival ground, where every five years the country's biggest festival take place. Peoples wear #traditional dress, they come here to watch the festival. lots of artist performed this biggest event. The location is in a very nice place, and the inside of the ground is also awesome because it's like a stadium without chair. I've visited in 2019. It was a great experience.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright Varvara_R

Historic Site of the week

Trinity Sergius Lavra

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is a world famous spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church and a popular site of pilgrimage and tourism. It is the most important working Russian monastery and a residence of the Patriarch. This religious and military complex represents an epitome of the growth of Russian architecture and contains some of that architecture’s finest expressions. It exerted a profound influence on architecture in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe.

The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, was founded in 1337 by the monk Sergius of Radonezh. Sergius achieved great prestige as the spiritual adviser of Dmitri Donskoi, Great Prince of Moscow, who received his blessing to the battle of Kulikov of 1380. The monastery started as a little wooden church on Makovets Hill, and then developed and grew stronger through the ages.

Over the centuries a unique ensemble of more than 50 buildings and constructions of different dates were established. The whole complex was erected according to the architectural concept of the main church, the Trinity Cathedral (1422), where the relics of St. Sergius may be seen.

In 1476 Pskovian masters built a brick belfry east of the cathedral dedicated to the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. The church combines unique features of early Muscovite and Pskovian architecture. A remarkable feature of this church is a bell tower under its dome without internal interconnection between the belfry and the cathedral itself.

The Cathedral of the Assumption, echoing the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin, was erected between 1559 and 1585. The frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral were painted in 1684. At the north-western corner of the Cathedral, on the site of the western porch, in 1780 a vault containing burials of Tsar Boris Godunov and his family was built.

In the 16th century the monastery was surrounded by 6 meters high and 3,5 meters thick defensive walls, which proved their worth during the 16-month siege by Polish-Lithuanian invaders during the Time of Trouble. They were later strengthened and expanded.

After the Upheaval of the 17th century a large-scale building programme was launched. At this time new buildings were erected in the north-western part of the monastery, including infirmaries topped with a tented church dedicated to Saints Zosima and Sawatiy of Solovki (1635-1637). Few such churches are still preserved, so this tented church with a unique tiled roof is an important contribution to the Lavra.

In the late 17th century a number of new buildings in Naryshkin (Moscow) Baroque style were added to the monastery.

Following a devastating fire in 1746, when most of the wooden buildings and structures were destroyed, a major reconstruction campaign was launched, during which the appearance of many of the buildings was changed to a more monumental style. At this time one of the tallest Russian belfries (88 meters high) was built.

In the late 18th century, when many church lands were secularized, the chaotic planning of the settlements and suburbs around the monastery was replaced by a regular layout of the streets and quarters. The town of Sergiev Posad was surrounded by traditional ramparts and walls. In the vicinity of the monastery a number of buildings belonging to it were erected: a stable yard, hotels, a hospice, a poorhouse, as well as guest and merchant houses. Major highways leading to the monastery were straightened and marked by establishing entry squares, the overall urban development being oriented towards the centrepiece - the Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra.

In 1993, the Trinity Lavra was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

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