More of Tallinn's Old Town

1-Aug-2013 • Tallinn Estonia

There were quite a number of museums recommended by many guide books. One of them was the Tallinn City Museum which unfortunately was closed on the day we were in town.

The Tallinn City Museum

This museum is in fact a medieval merchant's home which traces Tallinn development from its beginnings through to 1940.

Me in front of the Tallinn City Museum

From what I saw in pictures from brochures from the Tallinn Tourist Office, it had lots of period rooms and costumes from centuries ago. Anyway, on our next trip, we shall see it.

This was the Photo Museum.

The banner for the Photo Museum

A lively scene in Old Town Square

We walked through the Town Hall Square many times. The later in the day we went, the more people there were. I know for a fact many of the American visitors came from at least one cruise ship docked in Estonia for the day. We saw a Norwegian Cruise ship there.

There were restaurants galore in the Old Town Square. This was one ad we saw for elk soup just for 2 euros.

Olde Hans' Restaurant

In Town Hall Square

The most recommended museum in Tallinn was the History Museum. The museum looked very new on the inside. It was obvious that on old building in Old Town was gutted and renovated to house this site.

The stone marker for the Estonian History Museum

The façade of the Estonian History Museum

Don't let the seemingly small façade of the museum fool you.

Screens which showed a film about Estonia's history inside the Estonian History Museum

There was a film about Estonia's history. It could be viewed from a wide screen on one wall or some TV screens on another.

I'd say this was one of the main galleries of the history museum. It contained artifacts of daily life objects like a typewriter and some articles of clothing used by Estonians in the olden days.

The boat shaped axe, an artifact inside the Estonian History Museum, which I also saw in the National Museum of Finland in Helsinki.

Inside the Estonian History Museum

I remember this pair of shoes very clearly. It was different from all others because it was made of wood. There was a time when such kind of shoes was worn by many Estonians. The clucking of the wood against the cobble stone streets of Old Town was very loud and it could be heard from far away.

This part of the exhibit was located at the basement together with the shoes made of wood. This gallery to me seemed to have more art than historical artifacts.

I was quite intrigued by the white long coat in this window. I saw it in pictures worn by Finns during the winters early in the 20th century. It must have kept people warm given that the Estonians used it too.

This was the art exhibited in the room close to the main entrance.

The Church of the Holy Spirit

We finally got to visit the Church of the Holy Spirit's interior. I cannot exactly recall if there was an admission. I believe we did pay a small amount to help the church's maintenance and refurbishment. Of all the churches we visited, this was my favorite besides St. Mary's and the Alexander Nevsky's Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Inside the Church of the Holy spirit

The pulpit viewed from the second floor

The pulpit inside the Church of the Holy Spirit

A close up fo the dove on the ceiling of the roof above the pulpit inside the Church of the Holy Spirit

Stained glass windows inside the church

The main altar

A closer view of the church's main altar

A view of the nave taken from the church's second floor

The pews

Talking about pews, get a load of the decorated edge of one pew inside the Church of the Holy Spirit

What can this be?

We went to have a close look inside this tiny building in Old Town. It contained several framed pictures of religious icons similar to the ones we saw inside the Russian Orthodox Churches.

St. Olaf sounded so familiar. It was Rose Nylon who kept talking about it on the Golden Girls.