Page 22 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Estonia Latvia & Lithuania

20 INTRODUCING EST ONIA , LA T VIA AND LITHU ANIA

Architectural Styles
Ever since the wooden fortifications of the Baltic tribes were
replaced by stone castles in the 13th and 14th centuries,
foreign influences have domi nated the architecture of
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Today, the Baltic capitals are
archi tectural treasure troves, with Tallinn particularly noted
for its medieval buildings, Vilnius for its Italian Baroque and
Rīga for its Art Nouveau. The Soviet era saw the building of
inexpensive mass housing. Since independence private
Detail of the extravagant Gothic brickwork
investment has funded ambitious new projects.
of Perkūnas House, Kaunas
Romanesque and Gothic
Brought to Tallinn and Rīga by medieval The Estonian
German invaders, the Romanesque style, with History Museum
its heavy vaulting, round arches and restrained was built in Tallinn for
the Great Guild, a
ornamentation, lasted briefly in the region. The powerful organization
ornate Gothic ribbed vaults, pointed arches
of German-speaking
and decorative façades were more popular. merchants. This early
Tallinn boasts the finest examples, while most
15th-century
of Rīga’s were destroyed as part of the building has a stern
19th-century rebuilding of the city. Gothic façade and
vaulted halls.
The Church of
St Anne, Vilnius’s
most celebrated
Gothic building,
was constructed
using 33 types of
red brick. So
impressed was
Napoleon
Bonaparte that he
is said to have Kuressaare Castle, on Saaremaa Island, is the only
wanted to take it intact Gothic-style medieval castle in the Baltic
back to Paris. States. It is built in local dolomite.
Renaissance and Baroque
The 15th- and 16th-century revival of Classical learning,
which favoured architectural features such as regularity,
symmetry and a central axis, found little expression in
Lithuania. In Latvia and Estonia, however, it led to the
addition of new façades to existing buildings. The bold 17th-
and 18th-century Baroque style, endorsed by the Catholic
Church, found favour in the religious climate of Vilnius.

Pažaislis Monastery, in
Kaunas, is one of Eastern
Europe’s most
prominent Baroque
monuments. Built in the
17th century by Italian
architects, the
monastery church has a The House of Blackheads, in Tallinn, was
twin-towered façade, used by the Brotherhood of Blackheads.
behind which soars the It was formerly a 14th-century building,
52-m (171-ft) dome. which was redesigned in a Renaissance
A wealth of marble style in 1597. The interiors were reno vated
enriches the interior. in Neo-Classical style in 1908.