Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (Tallinn) | temple, church, christianity, place with historical importance, interesting place, listed building / architectural heritage, place of worship, Russian Orthodox Church, 19th century construction

 temple, cathedral, church, christianity, place with historical importance, interesting place, listed building / architectural heritage, place of worship, Russian Orthodox Church, 19th century construction

(The Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate)
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is Tallinn’s largest and grandest orthodox cupola cathedral. It is dedicated to Saint Alexander Nevsky who in 1242 won the Battle of the Ice on Lake Peipus, in the territorial waters of present-day Estonia. The Russian patriarch, Alexis II, started his priestly ministry in the church.
www.orthodox.ee/indexeng.php?d=parishes/aleks_e

The large and richly decorated Russian Orthodox church, designed in a mixed historicist style, was completed on Toompea Hill in 1900, when Estonia was part of the Czarist Empire. The well-maintained cathedral is one of the most monumental examples of Orthodox sacral architecture in Tallinn. Tallinn’s most powerful ensemble of church bells is located in the church towers. It comprises 11 bells, including Tallinn’s largest bell, which weighs 15 tonnes. Carillons by the entire ensemble can be heard before services. The interior, which is decorated with mosaics and icons, is worth a visit. This spectacular, onion-domed structure perched atop Toompea Hill is Estonia's main Russian Orthodox cathedral. It's also by far the grandest, most opulent Orthodox church in Tallinn. Built in 1900, when Estonia was part of the tsarist Russian empire, the cathedral was originally intended as a symbol of the empire's dominance – both religious and political – over this increasingly unruly Baltic territory. The cathedral was dedicated to the Prince of Novgorod, Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky, who led the famous Battle of the Ice at Lake Peipsi in 1242, which halted the German crusaders' eastward advance. It was deliberately placed in this prominent location right in front of Toompea Castle, on the same spot where a statue of Martin Luther had previously stood, to show the mainly Lutheran locals who was in charge. Now with the controversy long since faded, what's left is simply an architectural masterpiece. Designed by respected St. Petersburg architect Mikhail Preobrazhenski, the church is richly decorated in a mixed historicist style. The interior, filled with mosaics and icons, is well worth a visit. The church's towers' hold Tallinn's most powerful church bell ensemble, consisting of 11 bells, including the largest in Tallinn, weighing 15 tonnes. You can hear the entire ensemble playing before each service.