"This is pseudo-Gothic church with neo-Classical façade is built on the foundation of the former refectory of the Medieval St. Catherine's Dominican monastery. As the monastery was closed after Reformation in 1524, the new refectory was given to the town school. The Roman Catholic parish obtained the rooms in 1799 and built the church between 1841 and 44. The new western neo-Classical façade with its two low and stumpy towers (architects E. Jacoby and F. de Vries) were erected in 1924. This parish served as the only Roman Catholic one in Tallinn until the Order of St. Birgitta." (
visit link)
"The Catholic population of Estonia is small, approximating 6,000 adherents. There are no dioceses. Instead, the country forms an apostolic administration. Since 2005, the apostolic administrator residing in Tallinn is Bishop Philippe Jean-Charles Jourdan." (
visit link)
Services:
in Estonian Mon - Fri 08:00, Mon - Wed & Fri 18:00, Sun 11:30;
in Russian Sun 18:00;
in Latin Sat 08:00;
in Polish Thu 18:00, Sun 10:00;
in English Sat 18:00.
"In 1799, in succession of the parishes which had been closed
down in 1561, a Roman Catholic parish was re-established in Tallinn
and it was permitted to use the former refectory of St Catherine’s
monastery of the Dominican Order, which had been closed down
in 1525. By 1832, the number of parishioners amounted to 1,500,
however, the refectory could scarcely contain 300 people and,
besides, the former refectory of the monastery was in poor technical
condition. On the basis of the plans and the budget drawn up by order
of the Civil Governor of Estonia, Duke Paul Friedrich Benckendorff, the
reconstruction of the old refectory into a new church began in 1841
which was designed by a well-known architect of St Petersburg, Carlo
Rossi. The vaults of the refectory and the south wall were demolished
and a practically new building was constructed. The cost amounted
to 15,865 roubles. The new Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul was
consecrated on 26 December 1845.
The church is, as we can see today, a neo-Gothic basilica with a
wider central nave and narrower aisles which have been preserved
up to this day. It has a square east wall, without an apse, and vaults
are supported by octahedral pillars arranged in four pairs. There
is a small sacristy on the eastern side and its walls stand on the
foundation of the kitchen of the former monastery.
When the two-storey house on the southern side of the monastery
complex was demolished in 1920, the western wall of the new Catholic
church, which came to light, was designed as a festive facade by
architects Erich Jacoby and Franz de Vries. The facade was finished
in 1924 and it bears the following text:
HIC VERE EST DOMUS DEI ET PORTA COELI
/Here truly is the house of God and the gate of heaven/
and the dates of construction
AEDIFIC. MDCCCXLIV
/built in 1844 /
RENOV. MCMXXIV
/renovated in 1924/." (
visit link)
For an extensive history of the St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral and Catholicism in Estonia, visit this link:
(
visit link)