Location Tallinn Denomination Roman Catholic Consecrated 26 December 1845 Opened 1844 Architectural type Basilica | Country Estonia Founded 1841 Status Active Parish Tallinn Architect Carlo Rossi | |
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Bishop Philippe Jean-Charles Jourdan Similar Dominican St Catherine, Bremeni Tower, Saint Nicholas' Orthodox, St Catherine's Monaster, Walls of Tallinn | ||
St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral, Tallinn is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Tallinn, Estonia.
History and architecture
Catholicism was introduced to Estonia by force via the Northern crusades and dominated religious life during the Middle Ages. However, following the Reformation during the 16th century, Lutheranism took its place as the dominant faith, and during the time of Swedish rule in Estonia, Catholicism was banned.
Following Sweden's loss of Estonia to the Russian Empire during the Great Northern War, religious freedom was introduced by the new authorities. In 1799, the Catholic parish had grown large enough to be granted the former refectory of the long-since closed St. Catherine's monastery as a place of worship on the site of the present church. In 1841, designs were made for a proper new church building for the site, which had grown too small. The architect was the well-known St. Petersburg architect Carlo Rossi. He designed a neo-Gothic basilica, without an apse, with a neo-classical exterior. Between 1920 and 1924, the main, western façade received its present look, a work by architects Erich Jacoby and Franz de Vries somewhat deviating from Rossi's original façade. The interior of the church still reflects Rossi's design, however the wooden, neo-Gothic decoration has been removed. The cathedral incorporates several works of art, including works by local Baltic German artists Carl Friedrich Sigismund Walther, Robert Johann Salemann and a copy of a painting by Guido Reni. The cathedral has undergone a series of renovations, the latest in 2002–2003.