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T ALLINN 67

9 St Catherine’s q Tallinn City
Passageway Museum
Katariina käik Tallinna linnamuuseum
Katariina käik. Map 2 D2. @ 5, 40. Vene 17. Map 1 C2.
v 1, 2, 3, 4. Tel 615 5195. @ 5, 40. v 1, 2, 3, 4.
Open 10:30am–5:30pm Wed–Mon.
A fascinating medieval & - ∑ linnamuuseum.ee
alleyway with uneven stone
walls and overhead vaulting, Located in a 14th-century
St Catherine’s Passageway joins merchant’s house, the Tallinn
Vene and Müürivahe streets. City Museum was opened in
A string of arts and crafts 1937 to introduce locals to
workshops line the passage, the city’s rich cultural heritage.
where it is possible to watch Today, the vast collection,
resident artisans working set over three floors, offers
with jewellery, ceramics and a fascinating overview of
glass or binding books. A well at the medieval Dominican Tallinn’s history. Highlights
The passage runs along the Monastery, Old Town include a cutaway model of a
surviving wall of St Catherine’s 16th-century merchant’s house
Church, which was built in monastery and forced the and a fine model recreating
1246. The church was Tallinn’s monks into exile. In 1531, a fire a 19th-century domestic
largest in its day and several damaged most of the dese- interior. There is also a replica
gravestones, some dating from crated St Catherine’s Church, model of Old Thomas, the
the 14th century, still line this which had formed its famous weather vane that
narrow passageway. south wing. sits atop the Town Hall
After suffering neglect for four steeple. The floors are
centuries, the ruined monastery interspersed with lifelike wax
was renovated in 1954. Today a figures, dressed in period
serene cloister, its atmospheric costumes. Also on view are
passageways and pretty inner collections of silverware,
garden draw visitors. The star porcelain and pewter and
attraction, however, is the numerous tapestries.
fine Dominican Monastery The museum’s display of
Museum, with Estonia’s largest 20th-century exhibits includes
collection of medieval and photographs of the vast
Renaissance stone carvings by crowds that congregated in
local stone masons. One of the the Old Town after Estonia
prominent works, a decorative regained its independence
relief of an angel on a triangular from the Soviet Union in 1991.
slab, is attri buted to Hans von One of the main draws is the
Aken, the 16th-century German intriguing exhibit entitled
Mannerist painter. The Town That Will Never Be
Ready. It was inspired by a local
The medieval St Catherine’s Passageway, E Dominican Monastery legend that claims Tallinn
home to arts and crafts workshops Museum will disappear the moment
Open mid-May–mid-Sep: 10am–6pm someone proclaims it is finally
completed as a city.
daily. &
0 Dominican
Monastery
Dominiiklaste klooster
Vene 16/18. Map 2 D2. Tel 515 5489
or 511 2536. @ 5, 40. v 1, 2, 3, 4.
Open No regular opening hours.
Call to arrange a visit. & 8 tour
offered to the monastery’s inner
chambers through the cloister. =
∑ kloostri.ee or ∑ claustrum.eu
Founded by Dominican monks
in 1246, this monas tery was a
renowned centre of learning.
It thrived until the Reformation
riots broke out in 1524. The
Lutherans destroyed the Model of Tallinn from the 1820s displayed in the Tallinn City Museum