Tallinn Blog

Our next station is one of Tallinn’s landmarks: Toomkirik. The word Toom goes back to the German word “Dom” meaning Cathedral and “kirik” meaning church. Although the name may suggest German roots, the church’s origin goes back to the Danes who established it in the 13th century as a Roman Catholic church. In 1561 it became Lutheran and now belongs to the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Toommkirik - St. Mary's cathedral in Tallinn

The story of the construction of the church is not fully known. It was probably built as a wooden church when Danish forces invaded Tallinn in 1219. In 1229 when the Dominican monks arrived, they started building a stone church replacing the old wooden one. They could not finish the construction because during a conflict in 1233 between the Knights of the Sword and vassals supporting the Pope’s legate the monks were killed and the church was contaminated. Later on a letter was sent to Rome asking for permission to consecrate the church again. This is the first record of Toomkirik’s existence.

In 1240 the construction was completed as a one-aisled building with rectangular chancel and consecrated in honour of Virgin Mary.

Starting from the 1330s the cathedral was enlarged from a one-aisled building to a three-aisled building following the principles of a basilica. The work took 100 years to be completed.

Sarcophagus of Fersen in his chapel

Although Toomkirik was the only building that survived the great fire of 1684, it was heavily damaged with the entire wooden furnishing being destroyed. Some vaults collapsed and many stone-carved details were greatly damaged – especially in the chancel.

Pulpit by Christian Ackermann

However, already 2 years after, the church was restored and artworks by Estonian sculptor and carver Christian Ackermann were added: the pulpit with figures of the apostles (1686) and the altarpiece (1696).

Baroque spire of Toomkirik

From 1778 to 1779 a new baroque spire was built in the western part of the nave.

The organ of Toomkirik

Have a look at the organ of Toomkirik: It is one of the leading European concert organs and was built in 1878 by Friedrich Ladegast, was renovated in 1913/14 and once more in 1998 with the help of the German Embassy in Tallinn.

Grave Slab of butchers' guild

From 13th –18th century the church served as a large graveyard and many historically noteworthy people were buried in the cathedral. Have a look around you: You will find many epitaphs in the form of coats of arms. Epitaphs are short texts honouring a deceased person.

Epitaphs in the form of Coats of Arms

You will also see numerous kinds of tombstones with images of the deceased, for example the tomb of the Swedish army commander Pontus De la Gardie and his wife Sophia.

Grave monument for Samule Greigh

Let’s have a look at the temple like marble grave monument of the Russian admiral Samuel Greig. He originally came from Scotland, but joined the Imperial Russian Navy on the request of the Russian court to the government of Great Britain. Greig distinguished himself in the Battle of Chesma in 1770 and gained a victory over the Swedish navy in The Battle of Hogland in 1788 in the Gulf of Finland.

After winning the Battle of Hogland he was attacked by a severe fever. A few days later he died on board of his own ship in the port of Tallin. Empress Catherine II had appreciated Samuel Greig and his accomplishments so much that she ordered his burial inside of Toomkirik although she had banned burials in churches some time before.

Monument for Adam von Krusenstern

You can also see a grave monument for Adam Johann von Krusenstern who led the first Russian circumnavigation of the Earth.

Memorial for Ferdinand von Wrangel, famous Russian Arctic explorer

On the wall of the North aisle you can see a small memorial tablet for the famous Russian Arctic explorer Ferdinand von Wrangel. He took part in Vasily Golovnin’s world cruise on the ship “Kamchatka” in 1817-1819 at the young age of 20. Wrangel also led the Kolymskaya expedition in search of northern lands and believed that there should be a large island in the Arctic sea. Even though his own search for the island remained unsuccessful the island was later found and named Wrangel Island to honour him and his endeavor.

Address: Toomkooli 6