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Estonian legends. Tallinn

To understand Tallinn, you need to feel its spirit, walk through the streets and squares of the city, breathe in its air, listen to the stories and legends of Tallinn. So we alternated our acquaintance with the city by reading the legends of old Tallinn and walking around old Tallinn. Legends passed down from generation to generation, folk epic, always mysterious, funny, a little naive and charming, added an unforgettable touch to our trip to Tallinn.

I will continue my story about the main sights of Estonia, included in the UNESCO list.
With the history of the emergence of Tallinn, and old center of Tallinn This first point of unesco in Estonia, can be found in my article.
Second point t is Struve geodesic arc(on the list since 2005).
It is named after the Russian astronomer Struve. In 1816, on an arc of 2820 kilometers, 265 points were placed with cubes buried in the ground to determine the shape of the Earth, its size and parameters, as well as the distances between the stars. Currently, there are 34 points left in the Scandinavian countries, Russia, the Baltic States, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. One point is located on the territory of the University of Tartu and we will definitely visit it.

UNESCO Estonia.

Additional list of UNESCO - also two items.
The first item of the additional list – Baltic Glint or a ledge, the beginning of which is located on the island of Öland, Sweden, and the end at Lake Ladoga in the Leningrad Region. It stretched across the whole of Estonia at a distance of 1200 kilometers, we will observe it in old Tallinn. The height of the ledge in some places reaches 60 meters.

The second item of the additional list – Forest on the island of Saaremaa, episcopal castle in Kuressaare on the same island, we decided to postpone it for the next time, so that there would be a reason to come to Estonia somehow.

Legends of Tallinn.

Let's start our journey through the legends of Tallinn from the bishop's castle and this island.
At the end of the 18th century, a Russian engineer decided to make a plan for the bishop's castle in the city of Kuressar, on the island of Saaremaa. When measuring rooms in the eastern part of the castle, he discovered a walled cellar. Opening it, the engineer found a skeleton in clothes, sitting on a chair at the table. The engineer only had time to make a sketch of a drawing from the skeleton, when, at an accidental touch, the skeleton fell to the floor and crumbled into small pieces. According to the drawing and the remaining parts of the clothes, the engineer decided that in front of him was the skeleton of a knight of the 16th century, the period of the reformation.

The legend of the knight.

After examining the annals of the castle, the engineer discovered interesting story, as a local Catholic bishop turned to the help of the Pope in the fight against the Protestants. The Pope sent a knight from Spain, who proved to be steadfast, pious and devoted to the church. Local Protestants decided to convict the knight of disbelief. The Protestants went to the trick, and persuaded the beautiful blonde of easy virtue to test the knight. It happened that the knight fell in love with the girl and she fell in love with the knight. The bishop, learning about this, ordered the girl to be tonsured and locked up in the monastery. The knight sent the girl a note, which he hid in bread, but instead of the monastery, the letter ended up with the bishop. The bishop got angry and locked the knight in the basement of the castle. This is how the history of the chronicle found its confirmation. During a tour of the castle, you can see this cellar, which was later called the cellar of the immured knight.
This legend is very close to reality, but the next one is very similar to a fairy tale.

The Legend of Raymond.

Once upon a time, a guy named Raymond lived in the city of Kuressar. During the day he fished, and in the evenings he made various ornaments. It was hard for him, because in addition to himself, he also had to feed his younger sister and old mother. Once, while selling jewelry near the castle, he decided to inspect the castle and found himself near the cellar of a walled-in knight...

Tallinn Airport is the center of Tallinn.

Let's break away from the legend of Raymond a little, because our bus appeared on the horizon. Due to the large delay, I had to go in a fairly crowded cabin. In order not to be loaded with the purchase of a transport card and replenishing it, especially since we will not have to travel much, it was decided to purchase tickets from the driver. All information on prices and a transport map can be obtained. From January 1, 2013, everyone registered in Tallinn can use transport for free - this is where communism hid. We got on bus number 2, there are five stops to the center, we get off at Laikmaa. Immediately in front of us is a large shopping center Viru Keskus, behind it begins the old town and the continuation of our story.

Continuation of the legend.

.... Suddenly, out of nowhere, an old woman appeared and barely audibly whispered to Raymond: “Raymond, you are a kind, decent and good person, so you will be happy. Touch me, the soul of a Roman knight lives in me, he never managed to meet his beloved. His pure love will touch your soul and you will meet your love. To find it you have to go a long way to the city of Tallinn. In the temple of the Holy Spirit you will see a girl, your love.”
Raymond believed the old woman and began to get ready for the journey. He had many adventures on the way to the city. After several days of wandering, Raymond approached the Virus Gates of Tallinn in the evening. The guards did not let him into Tallinn, but suddenly a miracle happened - the guards disappeared and Raymond found himself in Tallinn among houses and people ... ..
It is symbolic that we, like Raymond in those distant times, entered old Tallinn through the Virus Gates.

Viru gate.

Virus gates, the beginning of construction in the 13th century, are a symbol of the city, a portal to the past. Would you like to admire the city panorama from the tower of the Viru Gate? Click .
In fact, the two turrets are only part of the Virus Gate, which survived the demolition of the gate in the 17th century, when powerful fortifications no longer saved from heavy artillery. From modern city with skyscrapers and other attributes of modern life, we immediately find ourselves in medieval city than not a time machine.
Viru street is probably the busiest street in Tallinn. Once upon a time, part of the territory of present-day Estonia was called Virumaa, Maa - in Estonian land, that is, the land of Viru, hence Viru is most likely the old name of Estonia. Through the gates of Viru, we went to it and among the large crowds of tourists went to look for our apartments. It wasn't hard to find them. They were located at the intersection of Viru and Vene streets, Vene means Russian in Estonian. Our apartments in the yellow house Baltik Amber.

Liquor Vana Tallinn.

Interestingly, the national drink in Estonia is a strong liquor infused with herbs called Vanna Tallinn, translated as Old Tallinn, and due to the fact that this drink is popular among Russians, it was nicknamed Vene Tallinn (Russian Tallinn).
Ten minutes after talking with the apartment manager on the phone, we received the keys to them, a view of the roofs of old Tallinn and a sense of satisfaction that the desired was achieved.

Weather in Tallinn.

Clouds came running from somewhere, it started to rain and it became cold. The weather in Tallinn is so changeable that it is almost impossible to guess with clothes, the GISMETEO forecast has never been true. Already sitting in a cafe next to our apartment and drinking French wine, we had to urgently go home for umbrellas and warm clothes. It’s good that the cafe had a canopy and they give warm blankets, which was very pleasing. Looking ahead, I will say that the Tallinn service was a pleasant surprise. Mostly young people work in restaurants and cafes, the treatment is very polite and respectful, when serving dishes they tell stories about the origin of these dishes. Coffee is a separate song, we have a tradition to drink at least a cup of coffee once a day, it hurts too tasty there.

Food in Tallinn.

Food in the old city at a price, of course, differs greatly from food in the food zone shopping center located nearby. But the very atmosphere of the Middle Ages, inherent in old Tallinn, accompanied by scenery and attendants in national costumes, must be felt.
But do not forget about shopping centers. The proximity of two super-shopping centers is amazing: Viru Keskus and Solaris Keskus, where you can buy almost everything. The choice on the counter is such as we have not seen in Spanish supermarkets, it is very worthy of respect. The Solaris Keskus shopping center is located directly opposite the Estonian National Opera House. In the center of the self-service restaurant struck by the choice and quality of dishes. The price is very budgetary, very tasty, I recommend, there are a lot of tables, you won’t be left without places.
Under umbrellas, we chaotically walked around the old town, not far from the apartments. Our first day in Tallinn ended with a visit to the shopping center, an information office on NIGULISTE 2 (Nikolai) street and the purchase of groceries.

La douleur passe, la beauté reste (c) Pierre-Auguste Renoir

In one of the most attractive tourist areas of Tallinn, a lot of mysterious things happen at night. There is the Executioner's House and the Pillory, as well as many haunted houses.
They tell a legend about the ghost of the von Brevern house, which is located at Toomkooli 13. Allegedly after the war, in 1918, this house was bought by a very wealthy gentleman, who sold it two years later. The fact is that at night the ghost of a demonically laughing woman appeared to him. The deal was canceled because it turned out that the seller had not warned the buyer about the ghost, and the money had to be returned. It now houses the Canadian embassy and a restaurant.

House number 13 on Tallinn's Toomkooli Street is not distinguished by its architecture, is not considered remarkable, but mysterious phenomena are associated with it ... If you look at the Toompea Fortress from the side of the Baltic Station, then to the left of it you will see a house over a cliff. But from the side of Toomkooli Street, it will be somewhat difficult to find this mansion, which once belonged to Count Manteuffel. The story will be about him.
The events that took place in ancient times in this house produced indelible impression on the writer August Friedrich Ferdinand Kotzebue, and he put them at the basis of one of his novels. For several centuries, people who lived in this house claimed that they never left the "sense of presence" of something bad. Despite the redesign of the building, the ghosts that inhabited this house stubbornly passed through the wall in the place where there had been a door before.
Bad fame has established itself behind one room on the first floor. She was considered uninhabited. Next to her at Manteuffel was a guest room. Visiting friends of Manteuffel spent the night in it, as well as the count's guests who stayed up late for maps. There, as they said, no one managed to avoid encounters with aggressive ghosts.
Many saw, to their amazement, moving furniture. Once, Baron Taube, who stayed overnight, noticed with surprise that the doors to the next room began to open by themselves, and there ... an armchair waltzed. Taube, without hesitation, shot at him - and almost died himself, as the bullet, bouncing off the chair, ricocheted towards the baron, but he dodged it in time, dodging to the side.
According to rumors, Count Manteuffel was a big sinner. No wonder they say: gray hair - in a beard, and a demon - in a rib. In old age, the count liked the maid, and she paid him zero attention. He did this and that, and caress, and threats - to no avail. Once the girl, unable to withstand the harassment of the count, even tried to strangle him. For this, they said, Manteuffel ordered the maid to be walled up alive in the wall. From that time on, a ghost began to appear in the house - a young woman in a gray dress, very unfriendly to men.
Here is what one of the visitors, who spent the night at Manteuffel's, said. As soon as the guest entered the bedchamber and had just managed to throw his coat on an armchair near the old fireplace, he heard a terrible noise. Something transparent appeared on the wall, the outlines resembling a human figure. It smelled of perfume, and the ghost quickly took on a real form: a young woman in gray was in the room. She began to approach the guest. Her eyes burned like coals and flashed lightning. Long hands with black nails reached out to the man and seized him by the throat in a death grip. Cold as ice, the lips of the ghost dug into the lips of the guest, and he lost consciousness. Only a few days later the guest came to his senses...
Having been in such and similar troubles, even the closest acquaintances of Count Manteuffel then bypassed his house.
The stokers did not stay long in this house either. In the "enchanted" room, "someone invisible" pushed them and knocked them down... But gradually the "ghostly" phenomena in this house began to "fade out" and, in the end, stopped altogether.
Another ominous place is located at 16 Rataskaevu Street. Once, a city dweller squandered his fortune. In that moment of despair, a stranger came to his house. The guest asked permission to have a wedding on the top floor. The stranger promised a reward, but warned that no one should go upstairs. Anyone who sees a secret wedding is waiting for a quick death. The city dweller, who, because of the ruin, was ready for suicide, immediately agreed. All night long, lights were burning on the top floor of the house, music was playing, and the clatter from the dances of the guests was heard.
One servant could not resist his curiosity and climbed the stairs to look at the secret ball. Soon the unfortunate man died, but managed to say that he saw the Devil's wedding that night.

Near the house where the evil spirits celebrated the wedding, there is a "cat's well". Now it is a copy of a medieval well from the 14th century.
According to legend, a mermaid lived in this well, at night she got out and went hunting. The townspeople, in order to appease the mermaid, threw cats into the well. In the Middle Ages, cats were considered messengers of evil spirits, so they did not feel pity for them. In the 19th century, the well was demolished and covered up, fearing an epidemic.
A copy of the well was installed in 1980 on the eve of the Olympics. Cats are no longer thrown there.
In the house at Vene 12, a long time ago there was a printing house in which strange things happened at night. People actually worked on the graves - the floor was laid from gravestones, the inscriptions on which were no longer legible. Now there is a restaurant.

In the 16th century, the commander Pontus Delagardi lived, famous for his cruelty. It was said that he gave orders to rip off the skin from the prisoners, from which the craftsmen made boots, bags, saddles. Puntsa (as Pontus was called by the Slavs) inspired fear even in Ivan the Terrible.
Pontus is a French military man, he entered the service of the Danish king, fought against the Swedes. Once in Swedish captivity, he immediately changed sides. He was accepted into the service of the Swedish king Eric XIV. Pontus succeeded not only in battles, but also in court intrigues. He helped Prince Johan overthrow his brother, King Eric. In gratitude, Johan appointed Pontus as steward of his coronation in 1569.
As a reward for his service in 1571, Pontus was granted a baronial title, and in 1580, the 60-year-old commander married Sophia, the illegitimate daughter of the king (she died three years after the wedding).
The commander died in 1585 at the age of 65, when he was returning from another campaign. His boat, following the Narova River, ran aground near the Narva Fortress. According to another version, a cannon ball hit the boat, which saluted in honor of the commander's arrival.
"Damn it!" - said the people about the death of Pontus.
Pontus Delagardie was buried in Reval, where his restless spirit roams at night.
According to legend, when the commander died and approached the gates afterlife, the Angel of Death did not let him in. Pontus will be able to find peace when he sells all the things that, on his orders, were made from human skin. Every night from midnight until morning, Pontus must roam the streets of Reval in search of buyers. Since then, at night, a man in armor on horseback appears on the streets of the old city and asks in an afterlife voice: “Buy leather! Buy leather!
And at the address Ruytli, 18 (according to other sources, in the courtyard of houses 22,24,26), the Executioner lived. In society, he was an outcast, neither he nor his wife could attend church. The executioner's daughter could only marry another executioner. If people met the Executioner on the street, they crossed to the other side. Now there is a gift shop.
Historian Jüri Kuuskemaa says that the site of the current Swedbank office on Liivalaia Street used to be the Execution Ground, where people were executed. Moreover, in the book "Tallinn in Legends" it is said that execution by chopping off the head was a privilege for the upper class. They wheeled people, broke all their bones, and then left them alive to be eaten by birds. Female child killers were buried alive. Witches and beastmen were burned at the stake. Counterfeiters were fried in boiling oil.
Cross of Liberty. And 101 million crowns were invested in it, and the Czechs were connected, because apparently we don’t have good specialists, and we did warranty repairs several times - but still it doesn’t shine. The panels began to become covered with some kind of greenish mold, cracks appeared, and it seems that the Ministry of Defense gave up on him altogether. Because the Cross was built in a cemetery - and, as we see, digging other people's graves is fraught.

The Dome Cathedral

Everyone who visits the Dome Cathedral involuntarily tramples on the grave of a sinner, about whom many stories are told. Entering the cathedral through the main portal and getting into the southern nave of the temple, the visitor finds himself on a large slab, along the edges of which is carved: OTTO JOHANN THOUVE the landowner Edize, Väena and Koonu - his grave. In the year 1696.
Tradition says that Tuva, who was buried under the slab, was an Estonian by origin, because his surname means "dove" in translation. For his merits, he was granted the nobility. He was an extremely cheerful and light-tempered man, he liked to eat a lot and tasty, drink hard, and most importantly, he was known as a ladies' man and a great conqueror of hearts. Before his death, he repented of his sins and bequeathed to bury himself at the entrance to the Dome Cathedral. Tove hoped for forgiveness if he showed humility and humility, and the parishioners would trample his ashes.
Indeed, five centuries ago, the Tuve clan settled in Edize Castle in northern Estonia. They also owned the neighboring estate of Jõhvi, where a church was erected at the end of the fifteenth century. On the bell tower of the church there is the coat of arms of the Tuve family.
The character of men of this kind is told by the legend about the church in Jõhvi, which is very similar to the legend about Don Juan in Tallinn:
There once lived two brothers. The elder brother went to war, and the younger one had to build a fortified castle. The older brother returned from the war, a quarrel broke out between the brothers, and in a duel the younger was killed. The older brother was seized with sadness and deep regret about what had happened, he ordered, in atonement for his sins, to build a church on the site of the duel and bury himself in front of the entrance, so that all believers would trample on his sinful ashes.

Grave of old Kalev and founding of Tallinn

Old Tallinn consists of two parts: the Upper Town, located on the Toompea hill (from the Estonian Toompea - which means "cathedral hill") with steep edges and lower city.
Surprisingly, these two settlements have lived completely different lives throughout their centuries-old history. In the castle of Toompea and in the houses of Vyshgorod, foreign nobles and rulers lived their lives, and in the lower one - merchants, artisans, etc.
The first settlement on the territory of old Tallinn was a wooden fortification on Toompea Hill, presumably founded in the 11th century.
According to one of the legends, Toompea Hill is the grave hill of the powerful and glorious hero Kalev, the first leader of the freedom-loving Estonians, built of huge boulders by his inconsolable widow Linda. And only one stone, the largest, could not hold Linda, he fell out of her hands and rolled down. The widow wept bitterly, and her tears were so plentiful that a lake was formed from them, which received the name Ülemiste - Upper (the very one where Järvevana lives). Clean as a tear, the lake waters Tallinn. The “Linda Stone” has survived to this day, it lies in clear water near the shore (now only its upper part is visible). And you can even see the legendary Linda - here she is, bowing sadly, sitting on a stone. Such a widow of the glorious Kalev was depicted by the sculptor August Weizenberg in 1920. This beautiful sculpture is located here, on the slope of Vyshgorod, in the square, which is now called Lindamyagi - Linda's hill.
About a thousand years ago there lived a king in Denmark, whose son and daughter were inflamed with forbidden love for each other. The king, having learned about this, decided to expel his daughter from his country, since he considered her the main culprit. He came up with a cruel punishment - he ordered to put the princess on a ship without a rudder, and send this ship to the open sea so that his daughter would never return home.
The ship wandered on the waves for a long time until a storm washed it up on the northern coast of Estonia. The princess ordered the anchor to be dropped and went in a boat to the shore. After some time, she noticed a hill on the coast - the grave of old Kalev. The princess liked this place so much that she wished to build a city here. The exile brought with her from her native country a lot of gold and silver, and this good was transferred from the ship to her tent on the hill. The princess called the people together and ordered for her gold and silver to build first a luxurious castle, and around it a city. Those who showed courage and zeal, she favored at home. So, over time, many people gathered around the castle, and the city grew noticeably, became beautiful and rich, and people in it lived calmly and happily.
Soon news reached the king of Denmark about the beautiful city that his daughter had founded. And he had an irresistible desire to subjugate this city. Having conquered his pride, the king went to bow to his daughter. The princess, unaware of her father's insidious plans, forgave him and arranged a magnificent meeting.
However, the inhabitants quickly realized what was on the minds of strangers. They immediately drove them away and remained masters in their city. The people began to call it Tanlin, the Danish city, from which the current name Tallinn came about over time.

The poor widow mourned her beloved husband Kalev for many months, giving vent to complaints and bitter tears. And she began to bring stones to his grave in order to erect a worthy monument to Kalev and preserve his memory for posterity. In Tallinn, you can still see this tombstone of Kalev - Toompea Hill. Under it, the king of the ancient Estonians sleeps with eternal sleep, on one side of the hill the sea waves rustle, on the other, native forests rustle.
One day Linda was carrying a large boulder to the grave. She hurried up the hill of Lasnamägi, carrying on her back in a sling woven from her hair, a whole rock.
Then the widow stumbled, and a heavy stone rolled from her shoulders. Linda could not lift this rock - from grief, the poor thing dried up, lost its former strength of hands. The woman sat down on a stone and wept bitter tears, complaining about her widow's share.
The good wind fairy gently stroked the silk of her hair and dried her tears, but they kept flowing and flowing from Linda's eyes, like streams on a mountain slope, gathering into a lake. This lake grew larger and larger until it turned into a lake. It is still located in Tallinn on the Lasnamägi hill and is called Ülemiste (Upper). There you can also see the stone on which the weeping Linda sat.
And if you, a traveler, happen to walk past Lake Ülemiste, stop and remember the glorious Kalev and his inconsolable Linda.

The story of a monk in love - a Franciscan

In Tallinn, on Lai (Shirokaya) Street, there is a house with two old lindens in front of it, which is almost six hundred years old. People still vaguely remember some story about a young girl and a Franciscan monk in love with her, associated with this house.
In the old days, its residents often heard someone's shuffling steps in a large and dilapidated building, the creaking of floorboards, the knock of an invisible hand on shutters and doors. Once, when the maid was sweeping the floor, someone hit the old woman so hard on her legs that she dropped the whisk from her hands. Sometimes at night it was heard as if someone was whipping a rope on a wooden bed. Residents have witnessed a terrible picture more than once: paint and plaster are disappearing from the wall of the house, laying of gray flagstone is clearly visible, and a pale and mournful face looks out from some opening with mortal longing in his eyes.
... 1464. Monk Johann von Hilten from Lower Saxony, a tall, handsome man of about forty-five, appeared in Tallinn. He was going to build a monastery of the mendicant order of the Franciscans here, but the magistrate did not give his consent to this. Then Hilten, violating the charter of the Catholic Church, began to preach his own doctrine, gathering around him a secret circle of followers. A man of strong will, he, among other wealthy merchants, members of the Great Guild, subjugated the recently widowed Ratman Herman Greve.
The sermons of the Franciscan fell at that time on fertile ground. In August 1464, a plague broke out in Tallinn, brought to Livonia on ships from Lübeck. Many fled with their families outside the city in search of salvation from the black death. Friends also advised Greve to leave the city, but under the influence of a monk who trusted in God and fate, he remained with all his children in Tallinn. The first to fall ill was his stepdaughter, eighteen-year-old Margarita, the eldest in the family. At the instigation of Hilten, the father allowed the rest of the children to visit the sick woman. All twelve children were swept away by the plague, one by one, to the grave. Margarita gradually recovered and thus became the only heiress of her wealthy stepfather - a circumstance of no small importance for our story.
Among the monk's students was a young but poor apprentice from Bremen, Diederik Zierenberg. Margarita and Diderik fell in love and decided to unite their destinies. But at that time, Margarita's trustee and uncle returned from Flanders, who was looking for a groom there for his niece and concluded a marriage contract with a certain young Fleming, giving him a deposit in money. He resolutely opposed the marriage of his ward to an apprentice from Bremen, fearing, probably, to lose the deposit given to the Fleming. The stepfather, under pressure from the monk, blessed the young, and in January of the following year they got married.
But since then, everything has changed. Happy young people stopped listening to Hilten. The monk fell hopelessly in love with Margarita, wrote tender letters to her with his own blood. The monk's love was not reciprocated and was rejected by Margarita. Now, unlike beautiful legend, Hilten's heart burned with a thirst for revenge, and he began to set Greve, obedient to him, against his stepdaughter and son-in-law, trying to deprive them of their inheritance and shelter. The monk also hoped to earn money from the sale of Greve's houses, which were to be inherited by Margarita, for living, as well as for the construction of a monastery in Tallinn.
Margarita then turned to her uncle for help, and a long thirty-year lawsuit began, which continued with varying success even after the death of all its participants, already between their distant descendants.
What was the further fate of the monk? Shortly after the events described, Johann von Hilten was expelled from Livonia and sent to a monastery in the city of Weimar, where he spent about a quarter of a century under supervision. Before his death, Hilten was transferred to the Eisenach Monastery, where he died around 1500. The holy church considered the monk's actions - secret gatherings of disciples, fanatical sermons and home masses - dangerous, she did not forgive him for his failure to build a monastery of the Franciscan order in Tallinn and his forbidden love for Margarita Zirenberg.
The old house on Lai Street is a silent witness to the drama that played out here in the fifteenth century, greed and cunning, love and hatred of the people who lived in it. This house is also associated with a legend about a monk immured in the wall, whose spirit wanders restlessly at night in eternal search and expectation of his beloved who has rejected him.

The Adventures of the Mummy Duke

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In the first half of the nineteenth century in the church of St. Nicholas (Niguliste) an amazing exhibit was exhibited. In one of the chapels, on a hearse, stood a coffin with a glass lid, and in it was a mummy dressed in a black velvet camisole with snow-white lace, legs covered with silk stockings, and a curled wig on her head.
The church watchman, who received considerable income for showing the mummy, touchingly took care of its safety. When the mummy began to be overcome by mice, he brought a cat in the church. Once, on a rainy and gloomy autumn evening, the organist was playing chorales when suddenly he heard shuffling footsteps. From the darkness, in the light of a swinging lantern, a mummy appeared. The horrified organist noticed, however, that the mummy was not moving by itself, but was being carried. It turns out that the roof in the chapel leaked, the mummy got wet, and the ingenuous watchman decided to dry it by the stove.
Whose mummy was this? Duke Carl Eugene de Croix was born in the Netherlands and had royal blood in his veins. He served first in the Danish army, then in the Austrian troops, and then in Poland. When the Northern War began, de Croix joined the Russian army. Peter I promoted him to field marshal general and appointed him commander-in-chief of the Russian troops near Narva. Having lost the battle, the duke was taken prisoner and brought to Tallinn by the Swedes. Here he was released on parole. De Croix quickly got used to Tallinn, made an extensive circle of acquaintances among the local nobility and wealthy merchants. Not only did the doors open before him, but also the wallets of the Tallinners, and the duke was a true master of living in debt. He drank a lot, played dice, his debts grew and grew. Everything was going great.
And suddenly - like a bolt from the blue - the news: the duke ordered to live long. Disappointed creditors gathered for a meeting. Someone remembered that according to the Lübeck law of the Hanseatic cities, Tallinners can forbid the funeral of a debtor until they receive their money in full. The meeting decided not to give the body of the dead duke to the city authorities - the only guarantee of his large debts. The authorities, on the other hand, showed unexpected compliance, apparently fearing the large expenses for the funeral, befitting the title of duke. Having agreed with them, the lenders put their "deposit" in the coffin and took it to the basement of the church of St. Nicholas for storage. It was in 1702.
The duke's mummy was found ... a hundred and twenty years later, and even then by accident. The people believed that the body of the duke was preserved thanks to strong drinks, which the deceased greatly appreciated. Pundits explained mummification by the fact that the mortar that held the foundation masonry contained rock salt.
So the mummy of the Duke de Croix turned into a landmark of the Niguliste church, competing with the famous altar painting by Bernt Notke. In the middle of the last century, the authorities ordered to stop showing the noble effigy, but they buried him only in 1897. Thus ended the adventures of the duke's mummy - two hundred years after his death.

Monastery of St. Birgitts

Once Tallinn was besieged by detachments of pagan Lithuanians. A certain rich Tallinn resident had a prophetic dream: the city would be saved if the humble virgins from the Cistercian monastery of St. Michael will follow in a solemn procession along the seashore until they meet a white cow feeding three white kids with her milk. A new monastery should be built on this site.
The next day, the nuns set out on their journey and found everything that had been predicted. When the procession returned to the city, the Lithuanians attacked the nuns and took away such a seductive prey to a military camp.
There Udo, the son of a pagan prince, saw among the novices the beautiful Mechtgilda, the daughter of the very man who had a dream. Mechtgilda, faithful to the Catholic Church, rejected the marriage of a handsome prince, but at her request, the Lithuanians released all the nuns.
Soon, friendly Danish troops liberated the exhausted city. Everyone forgot about the defeated enemy, only the novice Mechtgilda often remembered the prince.
After some time, Udo entered Tallinn with his faithful comrades and tried to kidnap the noble maiden from the monastery, but the daredevils were caught. Some of them were killed, some were thrown into a deep dungeon. Udo had been languishing there for almost a year when the news reached him: Mechtgilda von Jungingen, at the request of her father, was one of the first to enter the monastery of St. Birgitts. One night, when he could not sleep again and was already completely desperate, the prisoner noticed a mole that stuck its muzzle between the stone slabs of the floor. And so Udo, together with his comrades, did a backbreaking job, breaking through under the ground and by the sea, a passage to the monastery a whole mile long. In this he was helped by hope, faith and love.
Finally, on a summer evening, Udo found himself at the side gate of the monastery, where Mechtgilda was just distributing alms to the poor. When everyone had gone, her eyes fell on the stranger. The girl happily recognized the Lithuanian prince, who began to ardently persuade her to run away with him. But this time, Mechtgilda did not betray the holy faith, and Udo, in despair and anger, returned to his pagan homeland, where he sought oblivion in endless military campaigns. However, this did not help the prince either - the image of the beautiful Mechtgilda stood before his eyes day and night.
He was advised to take his soul and take revenge on heartless Christians. Udo, destroying everything in his path, approached Tallinn with his army. But fate overtook him on the outskirts of the city. In a bloody battle, the Lithuanians were defeated, and Udo was left wounded, almost lifeless, lying on the battlefield. He was picked up by Riga merchants passing by and brought to the Tallinn Dominican monastery.
Mechtgilda found out about this and began to visit Udo every night to leave him. Everyone considered this nun an angel who flew to save a stranger. A year later, Udo was baptized, took the vows under the name of Deodatus as a monk, and a few years later became the abbot of the Dominican monastery. He became famous for his piety, and he was patronized, as they said, by heaven itself.

Years passed. One evening, Deodatus looked in vain for his usual midnight visitation. The next morning, the sounds of the bell of the monastery of St. The Birgitts - Mother Superior Mechtgilda was buried there. He did not live long after the sad event of Udo, his orphaned heart broke. According to his last will, he was buried in the church of St. Nicholas, next to the one he loved.
Writes:
St. Brigid Monastery and Pirita Old Cemetery, Tallinn

Saint Brigid (Birgitta Gundmarsson of Vadstena) (1303-1373) founded a new monastic order, later named after her, in 1370, and in 1391 she was canonized. In 1405, three merchants from Tallinn decided to establish a new monastery near the city and name it after Brigid. The building permit was obtained in 1407, and Heinrich Svalberg became the builder and architect. The foreign name Brigitte was transformed into Pirita - this is the name of the river on the banks of which the complex stands, and the surrounding lands. The decline of the monastery began only during the Livonian War (1558-1583), when the Swedish soldiers, and the townspeople themselves, repeatedly robbed it. Significant damage to the monastery buildings was caused by a fire in 1564. The monastery also suffered during the first siege of Tallinn by Russian troops in 1570. It was finally destroyed in 1577 by the troops of Ivan the Terrible (hence - here you can read the details about the excavations).
The Brigitte sisters have been living on this land again in a new monastery building, built right next to the ruins of the old ones, since 2001. Official site .

vegetable garden

On the walls - apparently, tombstones that were found during excavations.

The peasant cemetery in front of the church dates from the 17th century. Those inscriptions that can still be made out date back to the 19th century.

Cemetery Kopley

The Kopli cemetery (German: Friedhof von Ziegelskoppel or German: Kirchhof von Ziegelskoppel; Estonian: Kopli kalmistu) was the largest Baltic German Lutheran cemetery in Estonia, located on the outskirts of the Kopli district in Tallinn. Currently, the territory of the former cemetery is a park.
Founded in 1771-1774 and used.
Between 1771 and 1772 Catherine II, Empress Russian Empire, issued a decree by which it decided that from that moment none of the dead (regardless of their social status and origin) should be buried in the crypt of the church or in the church cemetery. All burials should take place in new cemeteries that were planned to be built throughout the Russian Empire, located outside the city limits.
These measures were aimed at overcoming the overload of city crypts and church cemeteries and were caused by several outbreaks of contagious diseases associated with a lack of burial practices in urban areas, especially the Black Death, which led to the plague riot in Moscow in 1771. In this regard, in 1774 a cemetery was founded in Kopli on the outskirts of Tallinn. The cemetery was divided into 2 parts: the western part was used for the burial of the parishioners of the church of St. Nicholas, and the eastern part was intended for the parishioners of the church of St. Olaf.
The cemetery performed its functions for 170 years for almost all Baltic Germans who died in the city between 1774 and 1944. In 1939, there were thousands of well-preserved graves of many famous residents of Tallinn in the cemetery.
Last burials in 1939-1944
Burials in the cemetery declined sharply after Hitler's forced relocation of tens of thousands of Baltic Germans from Estonia and Latvia in late 1939 to areas of western Poland in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Burials in the cemetery continued, but on a much smaller scale, until 1944 mainly among those Baltic Germans who refused to leave the region.
Destruction after 1945
Shortly after World War II, the outskirts of Kalamaja (due to its strategic location as a Red Army base on the Gulf of Finland) was turned into a no-go zone for Soviet troops and was closed to the public. Around 1950-1951 the cemetery was completely destroyed by the Soviet authorities. Gravestones were used to build walls along ports and coastlines in other parts of the city. Soviet troops also destroyed the 17th and 18th century cemeteries on the outskirts of Kalamaja and Myigu, which belonged to communities of native Estonians and Baltic Germans. At the same time, the Russian Orthodox cemetery in the south of the Old Town of Tallinn, also founded in the 18th century, in the south of the Old Town of Tallinn, remained intact.
Current status
At the moment, the territory of the former cemetery is a public park without any visible traces of its former status. The only surviving evidence of those who were buried there consists of entries in the burial registers and some old maps of the area in the archives of Tallinn. Wikipedia
“The cemetery park is located between the school where I studied and not far from the house where I lived, between the tram stops Maleva and Bekkeri.
Arriving in Tallinn in 1952, we found beautiful tombstones made of white marble and granite there. The cemetery itself already bore traces of destruction: many tombstones were broken, the crypts were filled up. We, the children, loved to walk there among the centuries-old trees, tall grass and wild flowers, trying to read the inscriptions on the monuments that were incomprehensible to us, but in the evenings we were even afraid to walk along it. After some time, a dance floor was built at the cemetery, then they began to build a summer stage with benches. It was a terrible sight: uprooted graves, lying here and there, skulls, bones, coffin boards, and the boys scattered all this in wild mischief around the park. Then a pub was built.
The park was popularly nicknamed "the park of the living and the dead." Arriving in Tallinn in 2001, I went to my district. In front of me was a park with mowed lawns, where nothing reminded either of the cemetery that used to be here, or of the pub with a stage and a dance floor.

Cemetery of Kalamaja (German Fischermay Kirchhof or Fischermay Friedhof, Estonian Kalamaja kalmistu) is a cemetery in Tallinn, Estonia. It was one of the oldest existing cemeteries, located on the outskirts of the Kalamaja district in the north of the city. There were thousands of graves of native Estonian and Swedish inhabitants of Tallinn in the cemetery. The cemetery existed for at least 400 years, from the 15th or 16th century until 1964, when it was completely destroyed. The territory of the former cemetery is currently a public park "Kalamaja kalmistupark".
The period of formation of the cemetery is not exactly known, but historians attribute it to the XV-XVI centuries. It was the burial place of native Swedes and Estonians who lived in the Tallinn area.

Cemetery of Alexander Nevsky with an area of 13.01 hectares. This is the oldest of the cemeteries still in operation in Tallinn, coevals of which were the cemeteries of Kopli and Mõigu. For 200 years, this cemetery has its own last resort found tens of thousands of people, including many famous historical and cultural figures.
The cemetery was founded at a time when more than fifty years had passed since the end of the Northern War, victorious for the Russian state, and 65 years after the capitulation of Tallinn. Probably this victory, which was of great importance for the entire Baltic region, gave the name to the cemetery as well. In 1856, at the expense of the Tallinn merchants Alexander Ermakov and Ivan Germanov, a small stone church dedicated to Alexander Nevsky was built in the cemetery. It was destroyed on March 9, 1944 due to Soviet bombardment. Not far from the place where the church was located, a building of a red brick chapel has been preserved. At first, the cemetery belonged to a hill, stretching into the distance behind the church. Its main part served as an army cemetery, so there are preserved old tombstones on the graves of the military, many of which are taken under state protection as historical monuments.

forest cemetery (Est. Metsakalmistu - Metsakalmistu) - a cemetery in the city of Tallinn, where the largest writers, artists, sculptors, architects and politicians of the republic are buried. Located in Kloostrimetsa (Kloostrimetsa tee, 36). total area 48.3 ha.
The Forest Cemetery was founded in 1933 in Kloostrimetsa by decision of the city authorities, and the opening ceremony took place in 1939.
Initially, the area of the cemetery was 24.2 hectares, but later it was expanded and currently occupies 48.3 hectares.

Metsakalmistu is a cemetery of natural appearance, and the requirements for its design imply a ban on the installation of memorials and grave fences. Initially, the requirements for a memorial slab were 80 by 60 cm, but later the standard for the length of the stone was increased to 1.5 m.
In 1936, a chapel was erected at the cemetery according to the design of the architect Herbert Johansonai. Burned down by arson, the chapel was restored in 1996 with the support of the city authorities.
In 2006, a columbarium appeared at the cemetery.

Cemeteries:
Metsakalmistu (Forest Cemetery)
Military cemetery in Tallinn
Liiva cemetery
Rahumäe Cemetery (including the Jewish Cemetery of Tallinn)
Siselinna Cemetery: Alexander Nevsky Cemetery
Vana Kaarli cemetery
Pärnamäe cemetery
Cemetery of Pirita
Hiiu Rahu Cemetery
Cemetery Kopley

Katarina Lane

Katarina's alley connects Vene and Muurivahe streets and the entrance to it from these streets is inconspicuous arches, which are very easy to pass by if you don't go there purposefully.
The name of this lane was given by the church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, built in the 13th century in the Dominican monastery, founded on this site in 1246. True, the first Dominicans appeared in Tallinn in 1229 and founded a monastery on Toompea Hill, they also laid the first stones of the Dome Cathedral, but during the conflict with the knights of the Order of the Sword in 1233, the monks died, and their first monastery was destroyed.
The Order of the Dominicans was founded by St. Dominic, born in 1170, and the name of the order consisted of two Latin words "Domini" and "canes", which means "dogs of God". The Dominican Order played an important role in the life of Europe at that time and was engaged in education. Talented children were selected for the school at the monastery, and after 13 years of study at the monastery, the most successful were three years of study at one of the universities in Europe. Many philosophers and educators of medieval Europe belonged to the Dominicans.
At one time, the Church of St. Katarina was the largest of the churches in Tallinn - the length of the building was 67.7 meters. It was a three-aisled hall church with a high façade and a gable roof. The architecture of the temple echoed the church in the monastery of St. Brigid in Pirita.
The Reformation, which began in 1517, quickly spread to the Baltic countries, and the loyalty of the monks to Rome made it impossible for them to live in a hostile environment.
The monastery ceased to exist in 1525, after the reformation, and, soon, in 1571, was damaged by fire. The church of Katharina was also almost destroyed. Now from the church, which was once a huge basilica, there are walls 4 meters high and portals on the western side. Of the monastery buildings, the courtyard and the surrounding cross passages have been preserved. This small playground, surrounded by ancient buildings, takes you back seven centuries, to a time when the Dominican Order was still strong.
Katarina Lane runs along the southern wall of the Church of St. Katarina, on which, in the middle of the 19th century, tombstones of influential figures buried in the church, belonging to the Brotherhood of the Blackheads, a large guild and members of the Tallinn magistrate, were installed.

@mood: The post uses two spellings of the name of the city. I thought that it was not worth correcting the spelling of the authors

ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT TALLINN?
Have you been to the Town Hall Square more than once and all the cafes "relatives and friends"?
Do you know what is under the Town Hall Square?

WE WILL SURPRISE YOU!

"Legends of Tallinn" is one of those projects that are usually called unique, wonders of the world, the pride of the city and the country.

This exposition is hidden in intricate labyrinths deep underground right next to the town hall square. The labyrinth consists of 10 interactive rooms full of history, legends and life of the Old City Barons and mermaids, innocent girls and mighty knights, cruel judges and miserable people - fear or death awaits everyone!

You descend deep into the dungeon, and your 40-minute journey begins, or, one might say, a difficult test through the centuries of history. Professional actors, mechanical robot puppets and fantastic video projections will accompany you from room to room and present "live" 9 of the most creepy and poignant legends of old Tallinn.

In the labyrinths of "Legends of Tallinn" you:
- take the elevator to the spire of the ancient church,
- hear the voice of the devil and the song of the mermaid,
- survive the invasion of enemies and plague,
- feel the horrors of the Inquisition and war
- learn about forgotten discoveries.

"Legends of Tallinn" is located in the very center of Tallinn near the Town Hall Square at the address: st. Kullasepa d.7

Working mode:
Mon-Sun from 11:00 to 19:00.

Program duration:
40 minutes

Visit cost:
- full ticket (adults) - 13 EUR per person
- reduced ticket (children under 18, students, pensioners) - 10 EUR with human
- family ticket (2 adults + 1 child) - 30 EUR

My Northern Europe Cruise Stories:

In a certain kingdom, in the Danish state, there lived a king with his queen. And they had a daughter: a beauty, a capricious, a shrew. The father-king was a resolute, imperious man, who did not tolerate disobedience from anyone, even from his own daughter. Well, the daughter didn’t go far from her father’s disposition, but she didn’t have any power yet, and therefore she paid for her character - the shrew was ordered to put on a ship and send it, without a rudder and without sails, where she would take her. If your daughter is lucky, she will get out of the captivity of the harsh northern waters. And no luck ... Well, that's the way it is, so that others would be disrespectful. How long, how short a lonely ship wandered through the waves, no one knows. But the sea gods took pity on the shrew and carried the ship to the deserted shore, carefully stranding both the ship and the princess who was bored on it. Once on the long-awaited land, the girl did not begin to moan and wring her hands, but resolutely set to work, and soon a new city appeared on the nameless shore, named after the princess's homeland - "Danish Fortress" or, as we are all used to, Taani-Linn , Tallinn.

Tell me, if the journey begins with such a fairy tale, what can you expect from the city, except for new fairy tales, "traditions of the deep antiquity", legends and other fables? That's right, you need to wait for something fabulous and magical! And we, not bothering much with the routes, decided to do it simply - go around the Old Town, moving from legend to legend, in order to forget what century it is in the yard and plunge into the distant Middle Ages, with all its charms, but without all its cruelties (all- yet modernity ennobles the once harsh morals). Looking back, I understand that it was the right decision, which allowed me to live the whole day in the old, old fairy tale, which has so many names and inevitably a happy ending ...

Having found out in advance that several ships came to the port of Tallinn that day, not counting our "Aida" (one "Princess" could easily guarantee the hustle and bustle in the narrow streets of the Old Town), we tried to get off the coast as early as possible, so that at least in the morning enjoy the deserted streets and the silence of the waking up city. And we almost succeeded.

sea gate meet those who came to the city by sea. Therefore, our route turned out in the opposite direction, and not like everyone else, and did not avoid a little confusion, when the temptation to wag in one direction or another was already very great. Well, how can you go here without turning when a real fairy tale begins right outside the gate, which modern new buildings, satellite dishes and other signs of our century were afraid to spoil. True, I had to turn a blind eye to the numerous cars blocking the already narrow streets, but I wrote it off in the early morning ...

Where the Sea Gate is, there fat margarita, the tower is solid, dignified, solid, as old as the legend of its appearance ...

In ancient times, everything was different than it is now - a different life, other mores, other criteria for beauty. Our slender beauties, languishing on diets and dying in the gym, could not capture the heart of a handsome medieval man - well, why hug such a one? So the girls tried as best they could to look more magnificent - they put on a bunch of skirts, knitted thicker stockings and tried to somehow fill their cheeks, which you can’t cover with any clothes. They brewed potions, went to witches, spoke conspiracies - for beauty, all means are good (well, almost like in our time, however, for a completely opposite result). So Margarita, an appetizing girl and without any witchcraft (but when is a woman satisfied with her forms?), Decided to ask the sorceress for help. She did not refuse for a long time - she brewed something more magical, whispered stronger conspiracies and gave the cherished drink to the girl, taking her word not to walk after midnight as a retribution for the service. Margarita was delighted with such a small price and without hesitation promised to fulfill everything. And the potion worked! Margarita blossomed - not to hug one, all the guys looked around when, sniffling and panting, she hobbled along the narrow streets on a date with her beloved Herman. And such love spun between them that they both lost their heads with happiness, and at the same time they completely forgot that it was necessary to watch the clock. And then one day, when they began to beat midnight in the bell tower, Margarita remembered the warning of the sorceress, but it was too late - the sorceress took her payment. Now at one end of the Old City stands the Fat Margaret tower, and at the other - Long Herman, and they will never be together, nor in human form.

I don’t know how true this story is, and it has overgrown with details over all these centuries, having lost a bit of truth, but let it be - we didn’t manage to walk in Tallinn without fairy tales ...

After mourning the unenviable fate of Margarita and admiring the tower, we started to move on, but after a couple of steps we stopped before the next fairy tale, about "Three Sisters".

My father had three daughters: a clever and beautiful eldest, a so-so average and absolutely no younger. When it came time to marry them off, their father built three houses for their dowry: nothing at all for the older one, so-so for the middle one, and chic for the younger one, balancing the sisters' chances at the bride fair. And did not lose! Here the story falls silent, deciding to leave the ending unsaid. But no one bothers to think! And while we were admiring the houses, we listened to this legend in several languages, ranging from Russian to cheerful Spanish (we don’t know what the Chinese guide said, but the abundance of Chinese who stuck around the houses disturbed everyone terribly).

If we came to Tallinn for a few days, we would stop at the Three Sisters to live in a legend, among the old walls, listen to how the tales of the Old Town fall asleep and wake up and watch how ghostly shadows glide along the pavements shining from the rain ...

Church Saint Olaf We didn’t manage to see it in all its glory – the restoration, which we didn’t know about, forced us to change plans a little and try not to take it into the frame, it looked so incomprehensible. The tallest building in the Old Town had to be postponed "for later", as well as the view from the observation deck.

Pikk Street persistently called to go further along it, promising to show miracles and tell fairy tales, the fortress wall persuaded to turn aside and admire its towers, of which there are many in Tallinn - well, what kind of harmony of the story can we talk about when the legs themselves lead to where they are called eyes! And turning to the wall, we set off to get to know the towers, absolutely charming in their antiquity, solidity and squinting narrow loopholes. These towers, like the rest, just as high and reliable, have become for me one of the symbols of the Old City and the very portal that takes you to the past, regardless of whether you want it or not. The fortress wall hugs the narrow streets, “collecting” houses into a heap, makes the pavements wind and decides how wide the roads will be and how spacious the sidewalks will be, and the towers make sure that no one is self-willed, trying to get out of the strong stone embrace ...

Turning onto Lai Street, we went to where they stand "Three brothers", not as famous as the "Three Sisters", but also pretty, in my opinion. In the meantime, tourists began to wake up, slowly filling the streets and huddling in groups near any more or less pretty house. I had to wait and try to take pictures in pauses, when one group would leave, and the other would not come up yet. It was terribly straining, but we heard so many different versions of urban legends that you involuntarily wonder which one is true ...

And it’s not about the legends, although in Tallinn they are apparently not visible! Perhaps there is no second city where you can wander aimlessly and thoughtlessly, plunging into the atmosphere of a real, living past, where you won’t be at all surprised to meet a chimney sweep hurrying somewhere, where old weathervanes are spinning on the towers, trying to catch the changeable wind, where paving stones worn down by many centuries, where each house asks for either a frame, or a fairy tale, and where it is so easy to forget what century it is. Surprisingly, even this is not, if you dig deep enough, you can find antiquity in other cities. It is surprising that this whole story lives a normal life, without sliding into the props familiar to our time - silhouettes of people flicker in the windows, cars crawl along the cobblestones, church bells ring, shop doors swing open, hostesses water flowers at the doorstep, and all the tourist fuss lives separately from real life, without preventing the fairy tale from remaining a fairy tale, but were - a reality. And no matter how you look at your watch, remembering that the ship will not wait for anyone, you still freeze surprised and try to understand what is the secret of the Old City, which managed to preserve everything that was rich and that Revel was rightfully proud of ...

Returning to Pikk street, to Nikolskaya chapel, so modest and inconspicuous that if you don’t know where it is located, you can easily slip past, mistaking it for a small cafe, we continued our journey. It is surprising that it survived many troubled times and still remains a chapel.

House of the Blackheads- the attraction is very noticeable and very pretty. Even without knowing what kind of house it is, you won’t run past, catching your eye on the picturesque door. The house retained the appearance that it had during the heyday of the "Brotherhood of the Blackheads", a kind of knights from the merchant class. The brotherhood, founded in the 14th century, accepted only young merchants who had not yet started families, and foreigners who temporarily lived in Tallinn. The founder of the brotherhood, Saint Mauritius, a black African, still adorns the coat of arms of the guild.

By the way, it was the Brotherhood of the Blackheads who first installed a Christmas tree in Tallinn on the Town Hall Square, and it was in the 15th century, long before the tree became a symbol of Christmas in other European cities, which makes their contribution to history in my eyes invaluable ...

Omitting the biography of the order and a detailed architectural description of the house, I cannot but note the beauty of the door and the facade around it, which catches even an amateur. A very beautiful house and numerous tourists around are the most striking confirmation of this.

Further - even more interesting! Almost opposite each other there are two houses, one more beautiful than the other - "House with dragons" and "House with lorgnette", relatively modern and not very old (beginning of the 20th century). I gave my sympathy to The House with a Lorgnette, my husband liked the House with Dragons more - they don’t argue about tastes, for sure in our family.

"House with a lorgnette" beautiful even without a legend and looks like a magnificent wedding cake, decorated with trinkets and patterns. The eccentric with the lorgnette still needs to be found and you can walk around the bush for a long time, trying in vain to find out which turret he is hidden behind. There is even a legend that there used to be a house here, in which a not very modest, but very elderly gentleman lived, who loved to look through his lorgnette at the girls who flickered through the windows of the house opposite. The architect who built the new house knew this story and hid the gentleman behind one of the towers overlooking Pikk Street. When we stopped to photograph the lorning zhuire, people began to look around in bewilderment, trying to understand what attracted us so much - the attraction is not the most noticeable, but very interesting.

In addition to the gentleman, there are many other decorations on the house - a weather vane fish, fancy turrets, mascarons decorating the walls between the windows, carved lanterns on the facade, and even a black cat on the roof, which is not at all easy to see, even knowing where to look (you need to move to alley to the right).

"Dragon House"- a combination of Egyptians, pharaohs and dragons. There is no marzipan lightness of "House with a lorgnette" here, and the impression is completely different: weighty, solid, portly. But the attraction, and therefore passing by is not entirely correct. And we decided - everyone admires his own, honestly dividing sympathy between the two houses ...

Further Pikk street led to a small square where you can eat marzipan in an old cafe and see the history of the delicacy in the museum. There is also the Church of the Holy Spirit, which seemed to us much more interesting than marzipan paradise.

We put aside the marzipan, deciding that if we had time to see everything and there was time left, we would stop by here on the way back to buy gifts. True, this delicacy is so peculiar that not everyone likes its unbearable sweetness. Having tasted one marzipan candy, I can do without a sweet for a month, or even two, living with memories of its rare cloying. Therefore, I can safely say - I love marzipan, it is good to lose weight with it!

We went to the store at the end, on the way to the port, and managed to admire the marzipan figurines and bouquets, taste different types treats, buy gifts and even freely photograph the marzipan miracles decorating the shop window. There was simply not enough time for the museum, which I still regret ...

The small Gildi Plats is not only a marzipan museum. The house is big Guilds, located opposite the Church of the Holy Spirit - a memory of the times when Revel was part of the Hanseatic League (15th century). The lantern above the entrance and the solid door are what I liked the most. And the porch did not seem to notice the passing centuries, retaining the solidity inherent in the Guild House of rich Revel.

Unlike the brotherhood of the Blackheads, which consisted exclusively of single merchants, only married and wealthy people entered the Guild, and there was a special "bride's room" in the house, where the newlyweds spent their wedding night.

Church of the Holy Spirit(14th century) is notable for its antiquity and modesty, and its tower is visible from afar and in my eyes looks no worse than the town hall, although it is officially considered the lowest in the Old City.

The clock of the 17th century is the only decoration of the church outside, carried away by looking at it, I almost forgot to take a picture of it.

Inside it is quite modest, there are practically no tourists and you can go inside for a small fee. An altar, stained-glass windows, a hanging pulpit and a wooden carving of the choir - where else can you see this! Behind the outward modesty lies a real treasure that captivates not with pretentiousness, but with age and restraint. Come in, you won't regret...

If you turn from the Guild House into an inconspicuous arch called Exchange Lane, you can learn the history of Estonia from the stone slabs built into the sidewalk, not in detail, but the main milestones, a kind of "time tape". You can even find out what will happen in the future - the last plate is dated 2418. There are not very many tourists, we walked completely alone, except for rare passers-by. If you are interested in what is indicated there except for the future, go yourself ...

Then the road led up, from the Lower City to Vyshgorod, from the quarters where the merchants lived to where the nobility settled. True, we had to show miracles of endurance and discipline, ignoring the temptations that peek out from every lane and lure us to turn off the road, waving a hand at all our plans. Persuading ourselves that the Town Hall Square will not go anywhere from us, and once you get there, you can disappear for a long time, our team slowly but surely moved towards long leg streets.

The stone-paved walls of the street are no longer a fortress, but simply retaining walls that strengthen the ground and prevent it from slipping. But time and rains have done their job and everything looks nice and very ancient, the grass was especially good, nailing its way to the light through mossy stones. There were practically no artists with their creations that day, although I hatched a plan to buy myself views of the Old City ...

Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky, to which Long Leg Street led us, was built at the beginning of the 20th century, in gratitude for the salvation of Alexander III and his family during the disaster in Borki. The cathedral is beautiful, its domes rise above Vyshgorod and are visible from different points. But something terrible was going on inside - I haven’t seen such compressed crowds of tourists for a long time, besides, the categorical ban on photography did not leave a single frame for memory. You have to pay for the entrance, but when we saw the crowd, we suddenly got sick of going in and looking. Another time somewhere in the future somehow another time sometime later…

I must say that we got to the cathedral at the most “peak” time, when we released all the tourists from the ships (four liners for one Old Town is a lot, a lot!), Those who came by ferry and those who got by plane pulled up or buses. Not only taking pictures, it was impossible to squeeze through! Groups with guides, free-roaming tourists, a host of Chinese comrades who know how to create chaos like no other, screams in all languages at once - it is not surprising that such a stir was going on inside the cathedral. And I realized that all the charm of the Old City will be revealed to those who are not too lazy to get up early in the morning and take a walk along the half-asleep streets, where unfinished dreams still roam. Or go out late at night on the paving stones polished by rain and walk along with fairy tales, chasing away the silence with careless steps and chasing timid shadows running away into dark alleys. And during the day… No, during the day fairy tales are hidden, and I understand them very well!

From all this mess we ran away to observation deck of Toompea Hill where (surprisingly) there were almost no tourists. Obviously, the views of an ordinary city did not inspire anyone, and we admired it alone, broken only by the wind and seagulls.

Something I completely forgot about the legends, looking at the beautiful streets and admiring the houses. Meanwhile, the Dome Cathedral is very conducive to all sorts of legends of antiquity. The tombstone at the threshold, through which all those entering the cathedral step over, was placed on the place where the local Don Juan rests. It seems that he ordered to bury himself in this very place, so that everyone who enters steps on the stove and thereby helps to cleanse from a great many sins committed by him during his lifetime. But there is another version - the ladies stepping over the threshold allowed the deceased to admire the forbidden even after his death. But the poor fellow could not foresee that modern ladies prefer to wear jeans through which you can’t see anything at all, and not puffy seductive skirts that give scope to the imagination of a dead seducer.

Well, from a serious point of view - the ashes of I.F. Kruzenshtern, the first Russian circumnavigator known even to the children of the "man and the ship", are buried in the cathedral.

It turned out to be even more difficult to get into the Dome Cathedral - the queue at the entrance, completely formed from Chinese groups, tightly blocked the hope of seeing the place where Krusenstern rests and showing Don Juan your jeans from the most piquant angle ...

Patkul observation deck, which we went to, bypassing the Dome Cathedral, turned out to be a little livelier, and the views from it a little more beautiful. Here we lingered longer, admiring the city from a height and posing for each other against the backdrop of rooftops and a changeable sky. Why there were so few tourists is a big mystery to me, but the fact remains.

Third observation deck - Kohtuotsa, plunged me into despondency and sadness. We had to fight our way to the parapet, we had to squeeze through the dense ranks of the Chinese without giving a damn about all the rules of decency, and we had to wait a long time for the opportunity to take a picture in the hope that the upturned tablets and phones would someday be lowered. A photograph of the eerie pandemonium will always remind me how bad it is to be in the same place with organized groups of tourists from four cruise ships at the same time.

The view from the site became a consolation that allowed me to instantly forget the chaos reigning behind my back and enjoy the beauty that opens from a height. Tiled roofs, high towers, winding streets, tiny people walking somewhere down there, and the endless sky, like a frame framing a picture of perfect beauty ...

I had to fight my way back again, cursing and cursing all the cruises at once.

Having gone out along the absolutely charming and sweetest streets again to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, we turned into Garden of the Danish King, very rich in sights, and in legends, what is there to hide.

Quiet and cozy, despite being popular with tourists, a corner of the Old Town is hidden behind the fortress wall and guarded by three high towers - Konyushennaya, Maiden's and Kik-in-de-Kek. The garden is an exaggerated name: a few old trees promising deep shade over the benches, which are always full of those who want to rest their feet, a small flower bed with a Danish flag of artfully planted flowers, and figures of druids placed here and there. Oh yes! Another top view of the roofs, houses and streets, losing to the view from the Kohtuots site, but also not without its own charm.

The most beautiful thing in the garden is a legend. The Danish king Voldemar decided to attack the city, take possession of it and assert his dominion over the lands of the Estonians. At first, everything went smoothly - the defeated Estonians recognized the strength of Voldemar's troops, brought the gifts due to the king according to the protocol, and even arranged a feast in honor of the winners, lulling the vigilance of the king and his troops. And then they treacherously attacked, crowding the Danes. The victory was about to turn into a defeat, and Voldemar fell to his knees, offering prayers to the indifferent heavens, persuading the Almighty to help defeat the rebellious Estonians. And a miracle happened! From the opened skies, a flag with a white cross on a red field fell into the hands of the king. It is clear that after this, Voldemar perked up and won again, and the flag has since become the official flag of Denmark, as a symbol of hope and victory, even in the most catastrophic situation. The Danes believe that their flag is the oldest in the world and every year on September 15, Dannebrog is celebrated.

They say that if you ask in this garden what you have been trying to get or achieve from life for a long time and unsuccessfully, your words will be heard and personally conveyed to the creator, after which all invincible barriers will collapse, and you will find a long-awaited dream ...

The towers in this garden are also remarkable. Maiden's (the one with glass) served as a prison for ladies of very easy virtue (and in which port city they are not - where the sailor is, there are boats), Kik-in-de-Kek - allowed to look into the windows of the kitchens, but not to satisfy idle curiosity, but to notice who is evading taxes.

The Danish King's Garden, no matter how cozy and quiet it was, we had to leave, because further it was even more interesting. Short Leg Street, packed with tourists to the eyeballs, and therefore not as pretty as it could be if we came here on a quiet evening, led to Church of Saint Nicholas.

This church, despite its antiquity, was completely destroyed during the Second World War and after a long time was restored, either burning down or rising again from the ashes. They say that in Nigulista for two hundred years the body of a spendthrift, a cheat and just a loser, Generalissimo Duke de Croix, was kept incorrupt. Numerous creditors, who did not wait for the return of debts, forbade him to bury his body until all debts were paid. How this story ended, I never managed to find out ...

Returning to the Lower City, we set off towards the Town Hall Square, stopping at cat's well. Previously, there really was a well here (I readily believe in this), in which either a water well or a mermaid lived (I doubt it here), requiring regular tribute from the inhabitants of the city. Savvy townspeople, in order not to anger the one who lives in the well, threw cats down, deciding that they would be quite enough for the title of tribute (I don’t believe in this at all - it’s a pity for cats!). Now the well is not very popular with tourists, although it looks very medieval, if you do not think about the ruined cats ...

From the well it’s a stone’s throw to the Town Hall, if it’s true, don’t look around and admire the pretty streets, of which there are even more here. Maybe you will succeed, but I got stuck for a long time, looking at signs, windows, doors, roof peaks and walls of neat houses pressed against each other - no, well, it’s beautiful, it’s a pity to just run through without noticing anything around ...

Town Hall Square- a beautiful place, decorated with the Town Hall, the best preserved in all of Northern Europe (I took my word for it). The famous Old Thomas adorns the top of the tower and can be seen even from a height viewing platforms if the camera allows, of course. There is a long legend about Old Thomas, which explains both the love of the inhabitants of Tallinn for him and why he appeared at the top of the tower. But I, perhaps, will skip it - I don’t want to cut it, and the long one will tire those who read to this place.

We landed in the midst of some kind of fair that sold all sorts of things and souvenirs that are obligatory for every tourist. The sellers willingly switched to Russian, promised discounts and invited to the Christmas market, promising that it would be even more interesting, although much more interesting, only the Christmas tree was missing, the rest was in abundance.

Because of this fair, we never found the zero kilometer of Tallinn, hidden under one of the tents. If you stand on this stone, you can see five spiers at once - the Town Hall, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Dome Cathedral, the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Church of St. Olaf. We were not lucky, at least come back again!

You can spend a lot of time on the square, admiring the Town Hall (and it's worth it!), the houses located around, and the fair will also require attention - I bought a bunch of gifts for everyone, everyone, everyone. But the best thing in the square (although this is not an indisputable statement) is the oldest pharmacy in Europe, operating for almost 600 years.

Finding it is easy - at the corner of the Town Hall Square, where groups of tourists with guides crowd, you will not pass by. Previously, the pharmacy sold medicines that worked flawlessly, and sometimes instantly - rubbing from pike eyes or an extract from snake skin, powders from bat tails or unicorn horns, a mixture of frog legs or freshly squeezed mummy juice, " living water”, colloquially referred to as vodka and so on, so on, so on, including marzipans. Now medicines have become simpler and all the pharmacology that is sold in any pharmacy in the world is on display on these ancient shelves.

TALLINN, August 8 - Sputnik, Svetlana Burtseva. There are many legends and fairy tales about Tallinn, many of which are already known and even formed the basis of exciting books, plays and films. However, there is always something unknown and intriguing.

For such new stories, Sputnik Estonia went to visit the "city sorceress" Travnitsa. And to tell the truth, a cool summer evening, richly spiced with a long thunderstorm, made up an impressive, if not very comfortable, scenery for an excursion to the places of unknown legends of Old Tallinn.

Good luck

Armed with jackets, hoods and umbrellas, lovers of antiquity and "terrible" stories gathered at the City Hall. A group of daredevils, eager to learn something new and mysterious, which is still hidden in the streets of their beloved city, turned out to be not small - a dozen or three people came to listen to the Herbalist.

She, in an embroidered dress and a colorful sheepskin coat tied with a tight belt, greeted the adventure lovers with a calm look. Her head was covered with a long black ennen, adorned with a black openwork veil. The length of this medieval dress transparently hinted at the rather complicated pedigree of the "city healer".

And the townspeople, and "overseas merchants", but simply locals and the tourists who visited the capital of Estonia, "having fallen under the witching spell" of Travnitsa, immediately plunged into a bright, emotional, fascinating tale about our city.

Free City, or Learn Languages

The journey began at the walls of the City Hall. And one of the first stories was a story about a young pagan, his indecent behavior within the walls of the Church of the Holy Spirit and ignorance German language, where worship services were held in those ancient times. All this led the ignoramus to severe punishment - three days and three nights, without sleep, water and even a toilet, chained to a shameful place, he had to make inhuman sounds ... "Conclusion - you need to learn languages!" - not jokingly, not seriously winked Herbalist.

And at the same time, despite the fact that in the good city of Tallinn the young man had to answer so hard for his misdeed, it was here that he was able to find freedom. After all, Tallinn gave shelter to serfs and made them its free citizens.

The freedom of the serf servants who fled from the cruel masters began in the city basement, where, having just put his finger under a special record instead of a personal signature, the fugitive gained the opportunity in a year and one day to look at his now former master without fear.

Ghost of Magnus Revelsky

Following the Town Hall Square past the oldest pharmacy in the city, Travnitsa led her breathless listeners to the oldest residential building all along the coast. Here a long time ago, in the XIV century, the prior of the Dominican monastery lived. Moreover, it turns out that the word "android" was already known in those days, and in the oldest house on the entire coast of the Gulf of Finland, it acquired a physical embodiment. The veil over the secrets of the house with a ghost opened just eight years ago, when a cache of strange dolls was discovered.

The herbalist said that if you come to the house after midnight, stand in a certain place and look through the stained glass window, you can see a ghost with a candle in his hands. Undoubtedly, the ghost of Magnus of Reval, as he is called, knows a lot about the life of a strange prior, who was (certainly outside the monastery) not at all alien to magic and completely non-church knowledge and skills.

And walled up and executed

The herbalist said that the walls of one of the towers around the Old City, erected at the beginning of the 14th century, preserved the story of a girl immured in the tower. It turns out that the difficulties of building the tower and the intrigues of the dark forces forced the builders to use the oldest method of immuring a living person.

In general, according to Travnitsa, in the Middle Ages throughout Europe they believed that it was enough to wall up a living person’s house in the walls in order to successfully complete the construction. The soul of the unfortunate person helped in construction matters and subsequently protected the building itself.

For the sake of truth, it is worth mentioning that in the good old days they could wall up not only for the purpose of construction and the preservation of the building. According to one of the legends of the Fat Margarita tower, the cook Margarita was buried alive in its walls, preparing food for the soldiers so disgustingly that the evil and hungry warriors who guarded the city punished this lady in such a way. And since the negligent cook was also ugly fat, the tower subsequently received its unusual name.

The impressed tourist involuntarily exclaimed: “I thought Tallinn was a kind, beautiful city, lovers walk along the streets. But what to do? Medieval, that says a lot.

In general, not everything is so scary in our city. And among the unknown legends, there was a story about true great love associated with beautiful house on Lai Street - this is "the house where happiness settled," as the "city sorceress" said.

Ghosts are different

There is a museum in Tallinn, whose employees remember stories from the recent past, namely the times of the Soviet Union, about a policeman frightened by ghosts, about a ghost who helped lay out the exhibition display. Not scared yet? And what about the ghost of the Mathisen printing house on Vienna Street, or a silver snuffbox that fell out of a painting?

Do you know that the employees of the Swedish Embassy also encountered a legend about ghosts in their building? To pacify these restless neighbors, it was necessary to study the history of the building, and only relatively recently was it possible to cope with strange phenomena. And real ghost catchers come to Tallinn from time to time. Moreover, these narrow specialists bring with them special equipment for catching "not quite people."

Get yourself a helper

However, according to Herbalist, some "not quite people" are useful not to be afraid, but to tame. The participants of the tour learned that it is very good to have your own brownie. The herbalist said that brownies are surprisingly useful creatures that you should make friends with so that they help in the fulfillment of the simplest and quite earthly desires. Want a new iPhone? Please. Or maybe you liked an expensive piece of jewelry? And it's real. Ask your brownie for help.

But it's not that simple. According to Herbalist, the brownie is not a stupid creature. At the first call, he will not appear and will not rush into the arms. But you can find a way to it. As Travnitsa assured, brownies from time immemorial have always helped their household owners, and our ancestors knew how to perfectly negotiate with them about their well-being and protection.

And yet, the Herbalist finally said that at night and on dark evenings she prefers not to walk along the alleys of the Old City, so as not to disturb its secret inhabitants. "There are many ghosts in the city, so my dears, be careful at night," Herbalist warned.

For the courage shown in the journey through the old mysterious streets of Tallinn, Herbalist allowed willing participants of the tour to stroke the silver frog that adorned the healer's clothes and tickle the gray mice that stuck around the healer's linen sack. This ritual is intended to give wealth and health.

A curtain

The guide Natalia Praunina, who perfectly played the role of the “city sorceress”, told Sputnik Estonia that the tour “Unknown Legends of the Old Town” started in December 2016 and is a success among both the residents of Tallinn and its guests. Of course, such an emotional journey has an age limit, namely, it is designed for people at least 12 years old. For kids, the organizers of excursions select other information about our city, dressing stories in a colorful, vivid presentation.

According to Natalia, in winter, when it gets dark early, you have to take a flashlight with you for such a walk around the Old Town. And it must be admitted that if during the daytime the participants of the excursion boldly step into the gateways and old courtyards, exchanging impressions along the way, asking questions, expressing the emotions experienced, then in the dark "the people no longer laugh, but walk silently, as if not breathing" .

How many still undiscovered mysteries and unknown twists of history are kept by the walls of Old Tallinn...