Architectural Styles in Tallin Old Town

The Old Town in Tallinn is a feast for anyone like myself interested in architectural styles. Here is a summary of some of the styles and examples.

Gothic: Although occupied from 11th Century, the battlement that remains today dates back to the 14th century. There are many fine gothic buildings in Tallinn including the Town Hall and the Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit. Tallinn Old Town has been entered in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a well-preserved medieval town.

Renaissance: Renaissance-style architecture manifested itself most frequently in the ornaments of houses, especially in carved details and decorative paintings. The House of the Blackheads (1597) located at 26 Pikk street is a fine example

Baroque: In the beginning of the 17th century, Baroque reached Tallinn. One of the best examples is  Kadriorg Palace (1718)


Classicism: In the era of classicism (from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the 19th century), many buildings were erected in the upper town, whereas buildings were being rebuilt in the lower town. In the course of rebuilding, many of the medieval facades were given a modern classicist exterior eg. the von Rosen Palace (1670s, 28 Pikk street),

Historicism: In the middle of 19th century historicism and eclecticism came into vogue.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (1900, 10 Lossi plats) is an example of the Pseudo-Russian style.

The Reichmann house (1909, 21/23 Pikk street) is the most interesting example of Neo-Mannerism.


Art Nouveau: In the 20th century, Tallinn welcomed an architectural style that was widespread in Europe – Art Nouveau, including a sub-style known as Riga Art Nouveau. It is very flamboyant with a great number of masks and ornaments. An excellent example of this sub-style is  J. Rosenbaum’s Draakoni Gallery (1910, 18 Pikk street).


1930s - 1960s
The architecture of 1930s Tallinn is a mixture of traditionalism, functionalism, Art Déco and Scandinavian classicism. It is clearly recognisable and respectable, primarily due to its rectangular shapes and the popular brown or greyish colour anthracite grout popular at the time. Example: Tallinn Art Hall (1934), 6 Vabaduse square.

Tallinn: Knobs and Knockers etc

I enjoyed using the Fuji 35mm f2 to isolate some of the wonderful decorations and cast iron hinges, knobs, rings and brackets.

Toft Wood in the Snow

My morning walk with Ted this morning in Toft Wood was interesting with the fall of wet snow clinging to the leaves, catkins and fruits and a shallow covering of white on the ground. 

Tallin: Panoramas and Aerial Views

I had three different length lenses with me in Tallin but tried only to use one for a session. I often found the lens was not wide enough for the view I wanted to capture so I resorted to multiple images, which I then Photomerged as panoramas in Lightroom. I was surprised what an excellent job it did with the 26 landscape mode images in 9 rows of three (one wouldn't align) to create the first image. The second is 10 vertical shots across a view. The remaining are aerial shots on our flight home yesterday to show how compact Old Tallin is as a city and also to remind me of places I might like to include on a future visit. The last image shows Väike-Õismäe, a subdistrict with an oval shape, built in the 1970s (architect Mart Port - also designed the WWII memorial at Maarjamae). 

 

Estonia Independence Day - The Tanks Invade

I had failed to note that 24 February is the national day of Estonia, marking its declaration of freedom in 1918 after centuries of foreign occupation. So on our first evening in Tallinn, the tanks invaded the street right outside our room and continued their rehearsal until quite late. On the 24th lots of the Museums and Art galleries etc that we planned to visit were closed so a different experience watching the celebrations.