TALLINN
Aleksander Nevski Orthodox Cathedral. Three of the five domes.
This is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in central Tallinn, on the Toompea hill. It was built in 1894–1900, when the country was part of the former Russian Empire. It was designed by the Russian architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky (1854-1930) in a typical Russian Revival style, although based on the traditional characteristics of Russian cathedrals. The base of the building is made of Finnish granite. The temple is richly decorated and has eleven bells cast in St. Petersburg, the largest of which weighs about 16 tons, more than the other ten combined. It has three altars and five onion-shaped domes, on which there are gilded iron crosses. The gilding of the domes was carried out in 1898 by the master Piotr Abrosimov. Inside there are three iconostases made of carved and gilded wood with icons painted on copper and zinc plates in the Petersburg workshop of academician Aleksandr Novoskoltsev. The windows are decorated with stained glass, made by Emil Steinke, and there are also paintings and mosaics. The facades are decorated with mosaic panels made in Aleksandr Frolov's workshop in Saint Petersburg. The 58-meter-high building was completely restored at the end of the 20th century, after the restoration of the Republic of Estonia (1991).
Photo © Albert Lázaro-Tinaut, 08.2005.
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