Lutheran Cathedral Of Blessed Virgin Mary In Tallinn

Lutheran Cathedral Of Blessed Virgin Mary In Tallinn / Description

The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Virgin is the main Lutheran church in Estonia and one of three functioning medieval churches.
The present appearance of the Cathedral is the result of much rebuilding. The original temporary wooden church is thought to have been built on Toompea Hill in 1219, and was first mentioned in 1233. The stone church was begun ten years later. The spire dates to the baroque period, and several chapels, from even later periods.
Notable items in the church's interior include numerous gravestones from the 13th to the 18th centuries and numerous nobles' shield epitaphs from the 17th to the 20th centuries. Among the famous people buried in the church are the well-known captain Pontus de la Gardie and his wife, Sophia Gyllenhelm, daughter of Swedish king Johann III; admiral Samuel Greigh, Catherine the Great's lover; and the Russian admiral Adam Johann von Krusenstern, who led the expedition around the world.
If you take three steps from the main entrance of the Cathedral toward the southern nave, you will find a large stone slab which reads, "Otto Johann Thuve, landlord of Edise, Vääna and Koonu Ehis grave, 1696 A.D." The Estonian Thuve was an especially merry and licentious sort, who adored raucous parties with wine, women and song. As he lay dying, however, he was overcome with a sudden sense of contrition. He asked to be buried at the threshold of the Cathedral so that the godfearing people, who kneel to pray upon entering the church, might eventually save his soul from his sinful ways.