Church of St. Olaf, Tallinn: history and photos. St

Oleviste Tower (Olafa or Oleva - different name options)
An ominous legend about seven corpses and a man in red is associated with the construction of the tower.

The legend of the seven corpses and the man in red
According to legend, none of the builders could complete the spire of the tower. Seven daredevils who took charge of the work fell and crashed.
There were rumors in the city that the Devil himself did not allow the spire to be erected. In the old days, the number seven was considered magical.
Wealthy merchants appointed a generous reward to those who dare to continue construction.

Tower entrance

city ​​views
Finally, a certain Olev appeared in the city, who agreed to complete the spire for a thousand gold pieces.
Soon the master caused concern among the townspeople. Olev at the construction site was constantly visited by a mysterious man in a red suit. There was a rumor that the master had made a deal with the Devil.
Construction proceeded quickly, and the people resigned themselves to the strange acquaintance of the master. Olev not only led, but he himself took part in dangerous work.
Finally, the solemn day of the erection of a rooster weather vane on the spire of the tower has come. The day before, the master received his payment and gave the money to his wife.

I'm on the tower
When Olev was installing a weather vane, he stumbled and began to slide off the tower. There was laughter in the crowd, the townspeople saw a man in a red suit, who usually came to the master. The stranger in red disappeared in a moment, as he fell through the ground.
Olev fell in front of the tower, a toad and a snake jumped out of his mouth. According to an old tradition, a toad means life, a snake means death.
The master's wife returned the money, fearing that gold "for the soul of her husband" would bring misfortune to her children.

Since then, the tower has been named after master Olev.

Legend of mysterious man in red is also found in the biography of Napoleon ( see my post ).
Stories about the "Red Man" are common throughout French folklore (see my post ).

According to another version of the legend, Olev hid his name. No one hall, who is the brave master. Once, on the eve of the solemn erection of a weather vane, a curious city dweller heard a lullaby coming from the windows of a house.
"Sleep, sleep, my baby, our dad Olev will come, he will bring a lot of money ...".
On reflection, the townsman guessed that the song was about the mysterious master - everyone knew that he would receive a rich reward for his work. The news spread instantly.
The next day, when Olev was installing the weather vane, the crowd began to cheer him on.
"Olev! Olev!
The master was distracted, stumbled and fell from the tower.

Tower fires
On the evening of June 29, 1625, the tower was struck by lightning. According to eyewitnesses, the tower turned into a pillar of fire. The fire from the tower set fire to forty houses in the city. Fortunately, the wind changed and sparks from the flame flew over the city wall. Heavy rain put out the fire.
The restoration of the tower was not successful for the townspeople for a long time, and rumors about a curse arose again.

The work was completed in 1651 by an invited foreign master. In the 18th century, during the repair of the tower, a scroll was found with the text “Burger of the Holy Roman Empire of the German people Hans Koseler from Kulmbach in Bavaria repaired this tower in 1651.”
The restored tower was lower than the previous one, its height was 139 meters.

Lightning strikes on the tower were repeated several times: in 1693, 1698, 1700, 1707, 1719, 1736, but no severe damage occurred.

The second devastating fire occurred on June 15, 1820, from which not only the tower burned down, but also the nearest residential buildings.

In 1825 Russian emperor Nicholas I visited Revel. By his order, work began on the restoration of the tower. The work cost 500 thousand rubles in banknotes, then another 112 thousand rubles were added.
The emperor set his own conditions for the construction. The church should be restored in its original medieval form, and instead of roosters on the roof of the towers, the king ordered the installation of crosses.
The work was completed in 1834. The height of the tower together with the cross was 138 meters.

A little rest on the descent

Views of the tower

Today, the height of the tower is 123 meters. There are disputes, where did 15 meters go?
Presumably, this is due to different measurement methods: from sea level or street level.

The Olev Tower lost its leadership in 1881, when a church tower 161 meters high was installed in the German city of Ulm.

Opposite the tower is the Ministry of Agriculture

Tourists rest on the steps of the ministry

Neighboring street

Another Olev
There is another version of the name of the tower. In medieval Reval, there was a guild of builders and artisans called the Guild of St. Olev.

Olev (Olay in German) is a Norwegian king of the 9th century, famous for the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia. The saint destroyed pagan heresy with fire and sword.
The cult of King Olev was then spread in the Estonian lands by armed missionaries.

There are many legends associated with King Olev, but this is already a separate story. long story.

Neighbor houses

House details

original curtains

Little me against the backdrop of a big tower

And more views of the tower

Posts from my fellow travelers
Ruslan

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Located in the old town, two minutes walk from the Town Hall Square. The hotel is located in house 5 on Lai Street, Old Tallinn, the date of construction of which is attributed to the first half of the 15th century. "Saint Olaf" occupies 4 floors. It offers 104 rooms with flat-screen TV, safe, minibar, work desk and free Wi-Fi.

That's what they say on hotel booking sites.

Breakfast buffet. Guests receive discounted entry to the hotel's Cherie Beauty Salon. Friendly staff will be happy to help you decide on the choice of excursions and provide all the necessary tourist information.

A 10-minute walk is the Baltic railway station and the bus station near it.

Hotel St.Olav does not offer private parking for guests."

I booked a hotel for 3 nights, from Friday to Monday, for 3.5 tr. per day. Why this particular hotel? It was my first time in Tallinn. Planned to see Old city, and if there is time, the neighborhood. And in order not to mess with transport, I decided to find a hotel in the center. Some of the Tallinners can say that they can quickly get there from the outskirts. But then I measured it with my Moscow standards, in our country it takes at least an hour to get to the center from the outskirts. And how nice it is to wake up and immediately go to the Old City. And not to find out which bus and how long it takes to get to the center. Of all the St.Olav hotels I have seen, it seemed to me the most attractive in terms of price and reviews.

Even though the advertisement of the hotel promises Wi-Fi anywhere in the hotel. He is nowhere. Even at the reception. The girl at the reception said that something was wrong with my phone. And offered to restart it. I followed her advice, but the Internet did not appear. Although he regularly appeared in any cafe and even in a tourist bus.

Hotel entrance.

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The hotel is non-smoking. Smoking areas.

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Reception hall.

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The reception staff speaks Russian. The girls are really friendly. Willingly answered questions about how to get where, where to buy what, where it is not very expensive to eat.

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On the counter there are maps with sights, guides, including in Russian.

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Coffee machine. Coffee 2 e. But there is no exchange.

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The hotel, as described on the booking sites, is decorated with numerous pseudo-Gothic details and has an old-fashioned atmosphere.

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One of the passages to the rooms.

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On the right is my number. Staircase to the second floor.

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The room I stayed in was very small. There is an evacuation map on the door.

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Those hangers are the wardrobe. Since the distance between the hooks is not large. It rained on Saturday and Sunday. And two raincoats were drying on hangers. Then I had to use the back of the bed to hang clothes. What if I didn't live alone? The bed is comfortable and big.

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The bed rests on the window sill.

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The window overlooks someone's patio. Moreover, as soon as I decided to walk around the room in a negligee, a man came out into the courtyard. I had to climb onto the windowsill and close the thick curtain. It is not possible to close and open it from the floor. As I jumped from bed to window sill and back again. Found a dirty disposable spoon behind the battery. "Flying" for cleaning the room would put solid cons. During my stay, cleaning the room was reduced to throwing out garbage and trying to make the bed, which I already made. But at least they took out the trash. And not like in the hotel, Otepää had to endure it herself.

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After the bed, the room narrows. There is an air conditioner on the table. It works, I checked. Behind the table is a safe in the form of a nightstand. There is no minibar fridge. I don't need a bar. A fridge wouldn't hurt. A strangely colored door, similar to a door to some technical room, in place of the "no smoking" sign, it begs "don't get in to kill", leads to the bathroom. I would paint the doors the same color as the walls, leaving only the handles visible. But other than that, it's a matter of taste.

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TV, as promised with a flat screen. It has as many Russian-language channels, local and Russian, as I have never seen anywhere abroad. The ceilings are wooden. There is a dining room above my room. Breakfast preparation was well heard.

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Fan worked. From soap-rylny only liquid soap. No shampoos, no gels. And I haven't got mine yet. 4 stars anyway.

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The breakfast room is located on the second floor.

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Passage to the rooms on the second floor.

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Passage to the dining room.

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The breakfast is not bad and quite varied. From milk porridge to herring with potatoes. From tea and coffee to champagne for those in special need. They cook delicious. According to my observations, our tourists consumed porridge with coffee and tea. And champagne foreign tourists who the day before, starting from lunch, drank beer-wine without snacks.

// firefly-patrick.livejournal.com

Dining room. I shot on a Monday morning. There were few people. And the door to the additional room was closed. On Saturday and Sunday it was possible to go there.

Lutheran Church of St. Olaf (Oleviste) is one of the main attractions of Tallinn and the main city dominant - the spire of the church is visible for many tens of kilometers.

In its current form, St. Olaf's Church has a height of 123.7 meters and, according to the decision of the Tallinn City Council, skyscrapers under construction in the business center of the city cannot be higher than Church of Oleviste.

The legend of the construction of the Church of St. Olaf (Olevist)

In the Middle Ages st olaf church was the tallest building in Eastern Europe, with the construction of which the following legend was associated with its very name:

In those years, Tallinn was still very small and merchant ships preferred other, larger harbors to it. And the townspeople decided to build in their city such a temple that would overshadow all other buildings in the world with its height and splendor - then the ships would notice it and come to Tallinn with their goods. The search went on for a long time, and the townspeople were already completely desperate to find an architect capable of such work, when suddenly an unknown master of enormous growth appeared and agreed to build a unique church - but the trouble is, he asked for a considerable fee, ten kegs of gold.

So much money could not be found in all of the then Tallinn - and the townspeople were again depressed. Then the master added the following condition: if the townspeople know his name, he will not take a single coin from them. The Tallinners agreed with relief - the church is being built for a long time, during its construction they will somehow contrive and find out the name of the builder, and thus avoid payment. Then the question arose where exactly to build a new church - in the Upper City or the Lower.

Opponents of construction in the Upper City claimed that there the highest church in the world would reach the clouds with its calm, and if lightning struck it during a thunderstorm, it would burn down (the legend is a legend, but further fate Church has repeatedly confirmed the validity of their fears). The argument was recognized as reasonable and it was decided to build a church in the Lower City, not far from its northern border.

The master set to work - and she argued very much with him: he lays a stone - the wall rises, he lays another - and the vault is ready. And the shoes on him are unusual, magical - just a step, but a mile away. The townspeople tried to make friends with him and find out his name, but all to no avail - the architect was laconic, he did not get close to anyone.

In the meantime, construction was nearing completion, and the higher the walls of the church rose, the greater the fear of the cunning Tallinners became in front of the ten barrels of gold promised to the architect. Where to take them? The townspeople decided to send a spy to the builder's wife - well, how can he find out anything. The spy was unlucky for a long time, until one day he heard her cradling the child and saying:

“Sleep, my little one, sleep.
Olev will return home soon
with a bag full of gold.

The scout hurried to the city with good news - the name of the builder is Olev! The architect was just at the top of the tower, setting up the cross. The Tallinners started shouting to him from below:

- Olev, you really try! Look, the cross is tilted! You fix him!

The master was struck by lightning: the townspeople recognized his name and would not see him gold! In horror, his hands unclenched, released the cross, his foot stumbled - he lost his balance and flew down from the scaffolding. The church was tall, and its builder fell for a long time - and when he hit the ground, his body turned to stone, and a toad jumped out of his mouth and crawled out a snake. So the petrified Olev remained in the courtyard of the church, and she herself was called Oleviste - after the name of the master who built it.

Of course, this is nothing more than a beautiful legend, which every decent building is supposed to have. And the historical truth is that by its name the church St. Olaf - Oleviste(Oleviste kirik) is obliged to the Norwegian king Olaf II Haraldson, who brought Christianity to Northern Europe and for this was canonized as a saint. In addition, Saint Olaf was revered as the patron saint of sailors.

For many years, a spire shot up to the sky St Olaf's Church served as an excellent guide for ships calling at the port of Tallinn - in the 16th century, the height of the church reached 159 meters. True, the height of the spire also carried a serious danger: the church was struck by lightning eight times, and devastating fires occurred in it three times during the load - according to the chronicle, once the fiery glow was visible even from the coast of Finland, which is 80 kilometers away from Tallinn .

In 1820 st olaf church once again burned down and after the restructuring became significantly lower - now its height is 123.7 meters. The fire also destroyed the rich interior decoration, which became much more modest after the restoration.

In 1547 in history St Olaf's Church there was an event mentioned in the chronicle of the famous chronicler Baltazar Russov: tightrope walkers arrived in the city, pulled their rope between the tower Church of St. Olaf-Oleviste and the city fortress wall and began to perform their tricks on it to the horror and delight of the townspeople.

Belfry of St. Olaf's Church

In summer, you can climb the bell tower of the Oleviste Church - for this you need to climb the medieval spiral staircase:

In terms of climbing, the bell tower of St. Olaf's Church is the most interesting of all the bell towers in Tallinn (because it is the highest and extremely well located) - and, by the way, the most inexpensive: you can climb up to the observation deck for only 2 euros. The views from there are simply amazing - the entire Lower Town and Toompea Hill are in full view:

From my point of view, the views from the observation deck more than compensate for the costs incurred: on a fine day, the Upper and Lower cities of Tallinn are perfectly visible, as well as the Baltic Sea and the ferry port, from where huge ships leave for Helsinki, Stockholm, Riga and St. Petersburg.

The bell tower of St. Olaf's Church is open from April 1 to June 30 from 10:00 to 18:00; from July 1 to August 31 from 10:00 to 20:00; from September 1 to October 31 from 10:00 to 18:00.

Lai 5, Tallinn, 10123

In hotel St. Olav historical setting. The interior of the hotel uses a lot of pseudo-Gothic details, many ornaments are related to this era. Dark shades of warm tones emphasize the original features of the building. Dominant materials: natural stone and dark wood. The interior design of the lobby and dining room is a mixture of the Middle Ages and modern style. The environment created between these historical walls - modern design combined with natural materials.

The total number of antique furnished rooms is 112. The rooms are located on four floors of the building.
Of them:
10 rooms for allergy sufferers;
2 rooms for the disabled;
family room and connecting rooms.
All rooms are non-smoking.

Prices for 2019 in euro
*Payment is made in rubles on the day of payment at the rate of the Central Bank + 2%.

The cost of living at the St. Olaf Hotel includes:

Accommodation
- buffet breakfast
- wifi

Interesting places in Tallinn: icebreaker Suur-Tõll - museum ship of the early 20th century.