Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

About

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral of Tallinn is an Eastern Orthodox cathedral in central Tallinn, Estonia. It was built in 1894–1900, when the country was part of the former Russian Empire. The cathedral is the city's largest cupola church. The late Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow (1929–2008) started his priestly ministry in the cathedral. It is the primary cathedral of the semi-autonomous Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

History: The cathedral was built onto the Toompea hill in central Tallinn to a design by architect Mikhail Preobrazhensky in a typical Russian Revival style in 1894–1900. The church is dedicated to the grand prince of Kiev, and later Russian orthodox saint, Alexander Nevsky. The cathedral is richly decorated and has eleven bells cast in Saint Petersburg, the largest of which weighs about 16 tons, more than the other ten combined. It has three altars, with the northern altar dedicated to Vladimir I and the southern to St. Sergius of Radonezh. The base of the building is Finnish granite. In the five onion domes, gilded iron crosses are seen. Inside are three gilded, carved wooden iconostases, along with four icon boxes. The icons of the iconostasis...