Tallinn, 2004

Lower Town

We start with a look back from the Olaviste to Toompea

Toompea seen from Olaviste Church

This gives a good idea of how much higher Tommpea is than the town. It also gives an idea of how high the tower of St Olave's is. 258 steps, and some of them a good 30 centimetres high. The tower was at one time the highest in Europe. It still looks big.

Olaviste from ground level

This photo also gives an idea of how strong the sun can be.  I took it at 2pm local time, after we had climbed the tower, so now Noël Coward could say that Mad dogs and Englishmen go up in the midday sun.  Here is the proof:

The view from Olaviste
And this is the view seawards
View of passenger harbour from Olaviste

At ground level, there are some memorable houses: The Blackhead Boys´ house, for example (the children in traditional costume were attending some part of the Baltica 2004 festivities)..
Tallinn, Blackboys House

As well as some more anonymous houses
Coloured houses, Pikk St, Tallinn

This is Pikk Street, the longest street in the city (at least, in the old city).  With true Estonian poetry, the guide explained that Pikk Street meant Long Lane.  Its houses have some shady courtyards:
Virulane Restoran, Tallinn

Virumale means Estonian in Estonian, and the country is young enough for people still to be proud of the fact.

Here is the clock on the wall of the Church of the Holy Spirit. This church contains a carved wooden alterpiece a little smaller than Veit Stoss´s masterpiece in Cracow, and some memorial to the Royal Navy. The altar was cordoned off, and we couldn´t get close enough to read what the memorial said. Nor have we been able to Google it out yet. Holy Spirit would have been a page on its own if we had been allowed to use the camera, but no dice!

Clock at Holy Spirit Church

Here is a scanned version of a colour photograph I bought to remember the altar by.  The artist was a certain Berndt Notke, of Lubeck.  I think the quality of the painting excuses the size of the download.
Notke Altar, Church of the Holy Spirit, Tallinn

Pikk Street is also home to the the Dragon House gallery.

Dragon House Gallery
I took a close up of the Dragon detail:

Dragon House Detail

And here is another colourful house
Red House, Pikk St, Tallinn

Finally, here are a couple of other street scenes, firstly in Lai Street - a former theatre, now transformed into a restaurant.

Former theatre
and, on Vene, the City Museum:
City Museum, Tallinn
which dates from the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and contains a remarkable mediaeval pilllar holding up the mezzanine´s ceiling:
Stone pillar
And another weird facade, again on Vene:
Danish but who?

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