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Founded: 1896-1897Category: Religious sites in Estonia
Historical period: Part of the Russian Empire (Estonia)
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The church of Alexander Nevsky was originally a small chapel built in 1896. Only few years (1896-1897) later it was reconstructed as a church by the design of Architect A. Krasovski. The central part of the church is covered by a high, tented roof in 'Moscow style', crowned by an onion dome. It also has other characteristic features of Russian Orthodox churches, and is renowned for its iconostasis. During colder months the church was used for services, and all year round as a venue for funerals.
Reference: Visit Estonia
The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.