I. Solomykova

The transition to feudalism among the Estonian tribes began in the 10th-11th centuries. During this period, there was a gradual formation of a class of feudal lords, crafts and trade developed; on the basis of old settlements, the medieval cities of Lindanise (Tallinn), Tartu, and others were born. Conditions were formed for the formation of a feudal state. Further independent development of Estonia was interrupted in the first half of the 13th century. the invasion of the southern part of Estonia by the German crusader knights and the northern part by the Danes who enslaved the country. Folk culture was severely persecuted and its development was hindered.

The conquest of Estonia by the German feudal lords determined the peculiar nature of the further feudalization of the country. The ruling class of feudal landowners, the privileged elite of the trading and craft cities and representatives of the church were German in origin and language, in cultural traditions. Therefore, anti-feudal movements were always closely intertwined with the national liberation struggle.

The artistic culture of the Estonian people, however, continued to develop even in difficult historical conditions. It was directly embodied in folk art - weaving, jewelry craftsmanship, ornaments that adorned household utensils, in works of peasant architecture.

However, one cannot reduce all medieval Estonian art only to the traditions of folk applied art and exclude architecture and monumental art from it. During the construction of castles and fortresses, cathedrals and town halls, forced labor of Estonians who mastered the art of stone processing was used. Of no less importance is the fact that these structures are generated by the social relations that have developed in Estonia, historically characteristic of its destinies. Although at their origin such buildings, especially castles, were perceived as symbols of hated foreign domination, architectural monuments have become part of the environment in which Estonians lived and live and which has been participating in the formation of their aesthetic tastes and ideas about the beauty of their native land for many centuries.

In artistic and stylistic terms, the medieval art of Estonia was part of that large family of cultures of Western, Central and Northern Europe, the development of which proceeded in Romano-Gothic forms. Of particular importance was the close connection of Tallinn and other cities of Estonia with the Hanseatic League. The formation of medieval art was influenced by the architecture of Rhine-Westphalia and the island of Gotland; also affected by contact with the highly developed culture of close neighbors - Pskov and Novgorod.

In southern Estonia, in particular in its largest city- Due to the lack of quality building stone and good clays, Tartu was built mainly from brick - a material typical of northeastern Germany and Latvia. In terms of its construction and stylistic features, South Estonian architecture is closely related to the art of the latter. In northern Estonia, in particular the main city of Estonia - Tallinn, as well as in Narva, local gray stone - flagstone was used for construction.

In northern Estonia, links with the architecture of the Hanseatic cities are especially noticeable. Simple and expressive architectural forms, a certain asceticism in the use of architectural decoration are typical of medieval North Estonian architecture, which had a severe charm.

The architecture of northern Estonia, especially Tallinn, forms a kind of school that clearly expresses the original features of medieval Estonian architecture.

Built in the middle of the 13th century. temples and castles were stylistically still associated with the traditions of Romanesque art. Only during the 14th century. in Estonia, its own version of Gothic architecture was finally formed.

Church architecture of Estonia in the 13th century. lapidary simplicity of construction was inherent (one- and two-nave, sometimes without a transept, sometimes without a rounding of the altar wall, etc.) and a severe fortress character.

An example of a fortified church, which could, if necessary, turn into a small fortress, is the one-nave church in the town of Valjala on the island of Sarema (circa 1260), built of limestone. The thick walls, reinforced later by massive buttresses, were cut through by a few narrow windows arranged in pairs. After the Estonian uprising in 1261, the lower part of the windows was blocked, and a wooden gallery was built inside the church in case of defense. A characteristic feature of this church is the presence, along with the Romanesque foundation (massive wall planes, semicircular arches), elements of a new, Gothic style (vaults on thin ribs, etc.).

From the middle of the 13th century architecture was of great use in cities, which began to grow and strengthen. So, in Tallinn, Toomkirik (Cathedral Church, 13th century) was erected on Toompea (Vyshgorod) and the Church of Niguliste (St. Nicholas) in the Lower Town (beginning of the 14th century) - three-nave basilica churches without a transept. In the 14-15 centuries. they were radically rebuilt in the Gothic spirit, and we cannot judge their original appearance.

In the 13th-14th centuries. fortified monasteries were built (for example, in Padis, in Kyarkne, in Tallinn - the Dominican monastery of St. Catherine, which burned down at the beginning of the 16th century, and the Cistercian monastery of St. Michael).

Fortresses-castles were erected on the ruins of the former settlements of the Estonians. The ruins of numerous castles have survived On the territory of Estonia and Latvia in the Middle Ages, there were more than 400 fortresses-castles.); Initially, the most common types of castle-fortresses were donjons. Some donjons were built outside the settlements, at the most important strategic points. Such, in particular, was the donjon in Paide (13th century) - an octahedral monumental thirty-meter tower. The donjon had six floors, of which the lower three were covered with vaults. The second floor was adapted for housing, the top three served for military purposes.

During the period of feudal fragmentation, the territory of Estonia was divided between the bishops and the Livonian Order.

In the 14th century, when anti-feudal peasant uprisings became more frequent, including the famous uprising on St. George's Night (1343), large order-type castles or so-called "convent houses" were built especially intensively.

Typical fortified castles in Viljandi, Rakvere, Tallinn, Narva, episcopal castles in Kuressaare and Haapsalu. The Order's castle in Viljandi (now ruins) was larger than all contemporary castles in the Baltics. It represented a square with a side of 55 m in plan. The ensemble of the building included a church, a large common refectory for the knights, common bedrooms - dormitories and separate rooms for noble members of the order. The castle stood on a high hill with a steep slope to the lake and was surrounded by four belts of powerful stone fortress walls. The alternation of walls, natural ravines and ditches made the castle impregnable. One can imagine that the bulk of the castle and the high walls, built of boulders and bricks, hanging over the lake and looming in the sky, made a really formidable impression.

In the architecture of order convent houses from the 14th century. features of Gothic art began to appear. However, the Gothic art of medieval Estonia reached its highest development in the cities.

Some Estonian cities that reached in the 14th century. high level economic development, acquired a certain independence in relation to the power of the order and became, as everywhere in Europe, the centers of the most progressive forms of culture and art in the Middle Ages.

Estonian Gothic is characterized by a severe serf character, simplicity of plans, the rare use of flying buttresses, the preservation of the role of the wall, and the weak development of the frame system characteristic of Western Europe.

The brick church of Jaani (John) in Tartu, built in the 14th century, gives an excellent idea of ​​South Estonian Gothic. A distinctive feature of its architecture is the horizontal articulation of the planes of the facade and walls with the help of a variety of friezes, including green glazed tiles. In the western part there was a heavy square tower, decorated with friezes and false windows, with a richly profiled portal, gravitating towards Romanesque forms, completed with a wilperg.

The unique character of this monument of medieval Estonian architecture is associated with its terracotta sculptural decorations. Terracotta figurines, human heads and sculptural groups are located both inside and outside the building. These diverse, non-repeating sculptural images of burghers, knights, artisans are interpreted very schematically and stylized, but nevertheless, in many of them, a realistic perception of a person is noticeable.

In the 15th century in Tartu, on the basis of a church built back in the 13th century, a monumental three-nave basilica cathedral church of Peter and Paul was erected. This is the only church building in Estonia whose western façade was flanked by two high quadrangular towers facing west. The church burned down in the 17th century, only a wall box with parts of the towers survived.

In general, the South Estonian "brick Gothic" compared to the northern one is characterized by relatively lighter proportions and dissection of structures, richness of decor, less severity and greater picturesqueness, and a festive overall impression.

A peculiar monument of early Estonian Gothic is the church in Karja on the island of Sarema (1330-1340). Its peculiarity is the sculptural decor made of local Sarem marble. One of the pylons of the entrance arch depicts St. Nicholas in episcopal vestments. From a niche, decorated in the form of a window of a small tower, he gives alms to women. Among the sculptures there are groups that are attractive for their naive vitality, for example, the figure of St. Nicholas, depicted as a Sarem fisherman, or the image of gossips, one of which lacks devils. The statues of this church are of particular interest, since sculptures associated with architectural decoration have almost not survived in Estonia. Of the few surviving monuments, one should also mention the sculptural group of Estonian peasants on the console of the church in Paide.

Apparently, some sculptural decorations, especially in provincial churches, were made by masters - Estonians by origin. They are characterized by the spirit of coarse folk humor and an interest in depicting peasant Estonians.

The most striking and complete achievement of Estonian Gothic as a whole was revealed in the architecture and art of Tallinn. Early Gothic buildings include the two-aisled Pühavaimu (Holy Spirit) Church, built in the 14th century, a squat rectangular building with sparsely spaced high lancet windows and peculiar stepped slopes of pediments, which preserves the stern serf spirit of early medieval Estonian art.

The architectural appearance of medieval Tallinn in general terms took shape in the second half of the 15th century. The city was sharply divided into two parts: Vyshgorod (Toompea), located on a high rocky plateau, and the Lower City, lying between Vyshgorod and the sea harbor. Vyshgorod was the center of knightly-church Estonia. Surrounded by high walls, located in a valley near the sea, the Lower City was inhabited by merchants, numerous artisans and working people. He opposed Vyshgorod as the center of burgher culture.

Numerous churches of the 13th-15th centuries, the order castle, the old city hall of the 14th-15th centuries have survived from the medieval era. (in which the Tallinn City Council is currently located), fortress towers and part of the city walls, stone residential houses of wealthy burghers built as early as the 15th-16th centuries, and buildings of city guilds. Thus, old Tallinn with its numerous monuments of antiquity, narrow winding streets clearly recreates the appearance of the city of the mature Middle Ages. In terms of safety, in terms of amazing integrity of the impression, the Gothic Tallinn ensemble is the only one in the USSR.

On a high rocky hill, steeply plunging towards the sea, rises the gloomy castle of the Livonian Order, founded by the Danes as early as the 13th century, rebuilt and expanded by the order in the 14th century. The deaf array of its mighty walls was only occasionally interrupted by several small windows-loopholes. The castle was flanked at the corners by towers; the largest and highest of them - Long German - has survived to this day. This eight-storey cylindrical tower with rare narrow windows dominates the area and is visible for many kilometers.

From the west and east, the stern silhouette of Vyshgorod stood out in contrast to the Lower City. The high and strong city walls, made of gray limestone, were crowned with numerous towers. An idea of ​​the square towers of the city wall (14th century) is given by the tower gates leading from the Lower City to a gentle ascent to Vyshgorod, called the Long Descent (Pikkyalg). The burghers prudently walled themselves off from Vyshgorod, with which they had to wage a constant struggle for their city liberties and privileges.

The surviving part of the walls with towers (there were 28 of them by the beginning of the 15th century) belongs to the 14th-15th centuries. Often located round towers topped with conical tents reproduce the type characteristic of medieval fortifications in Western Europe. Behind the city towers, like sentries guarding the city, crowded stone houses with steep gable roofs. Above them rose the spire of the mighty tower of the church of Niguliste and the needle-like turrets of the Church of the Holy Spirit and the town hall; in the side of the city facing the sea - a slender and powerful tower of the Church of Oleviste (rebuilt in the 15th - early 16th century), crowned with a tent-spire soaring rapidly upwards. The church and especially its tower (about 120 m high) dominated the city and were visible far from the sea. The ensemble of the Lower City, with its forest of slender towers, crowded peaked roofs, rich burgher houses, and spiers, expressively opposed the formidable severity of the Vyshgorod ensemble.

Estonian Gothic of its heyday is most vividly embodied in the Oleviste Church.

Its aesthetic impact on the viewer is determined not only by the dizzying height of the tower, but also by the noble simplicity, proportionality of architectural volumes and forms. From Lai Street, on which the main, western facade of the church comes out at an angle, a huge four-sided tower appears before the viewer. Everything in it is subordinated to one task - to express the powerful upward aspiration of the stone prism. The monumental portal of the entrance, deeply cut into the plane of the wall, seems small in comparison with the general dimensions. At the same time, a wide squat profiled portal, as it were, with difficulty overcomes the weight of the stone mass lying on it. A slender 14-meter lancet window rises freely and easily above the portal, preparing and anticipating the take-off of a pointed shako-spire. Above the window, the calm surface of the wall is cut through by two small, slender windows, and, finally, the upper part of the tower is crowned with two tiers of high lancet niches, as if facilitating the completion of the tower and giving it a restrainedly solemn look. On a solid foundation of a 60-meter prism, a more than 70-meter spire rises, the wooden frame of which burned repeatedly and was restored approximately in its former form.

The main compact mass of the church, small in comparison with the tower, with the roofs of the chancel and naves rising like steps, also visually prepares for the rapid rise of the tower. Of interest are the scale ratios of the height of the tower with and without a spire and the height of the central and side aisles - 8:4:2:1. The somewhat rigid simplicity of these ratios emphasizes the spirit of restrained energy and stern confidence that the architectural image of the temple carries.

The interior of the church is subject to the same task. The stellated vaults of the central nave rest on massive tetrahedral pillars. And only in the polygonal altar part does the builder deviate from the restrained severity of decisions; the vaults here rest on slender octagonal columns.

The main center of life in the Lower City was the town hall and the market square in front of it, the only big square within the city walls. The well-preserved Town Hall (late 14th - early 15th century) is an excellent example of secular Estonian Gothic. The expressiveness of the image of the simple design of the town hall, crowned with a high gable roof, was based on a comparison of the rectangular array of the building itself and the octahedral, as it were, chiseled turret. The cornice of the turret is elegantly decorated with a frieze of light consoles, typical for Tallinn Gothic ( High Baroque shako (tented superstructure over stone tower) has been modified several times. The shako is crowned with an openwork figured weather vane made of wrought iron, depicting a warrior - the guardian of the city, known as Old Thomas.).

The flat wall of the main facade of the town hall rose above the loggia with lancet arches running along the entire bottom of the building and was cut through by high windows of the second, main floor.

A feature very characteristic of medieval architecture was the asymmetry of the arrangement of windows along the facade. The architect aimed primarily at the architectural design of the interior of individual premises. The main hall was illuminated by three windows, of which the central one, for the sake of completeness of the impression, was higher. Smaller rooms were illuminated by a pair of windows or one window, and their scale and proportions were decided each time depending on the configuration of the room and its functional purpose. Hence the lively asymmetry of the arrangement of windows along the facade, which, however, is not devoid of unity, due to the general nature of the slender windows, enlivening the flat wall and introducing a festive variety into the monotonous rhythm of the heavier arcades of the basement gallery.

Town Hall Square was surrounded by rich burgher stone houses with high triangular pediments of gable roofs covered with red tiles. Mention should also be made of the monumental building of the Great Guild, which united large merchants and shipowners. This building was crowned with a high steep pediment, decorated with decorative lancet arches; the stone portals of the doors were richly profiled.

In conclusion, it should be said about the type of house of a wealthy wholesale merchant. Most of them were built after a huge fire in 1433. The houses faced the street with an end facade. The heavy door, framed by a profiled stone portal, was often decorated with sculptural carvings and a beautiful wrought iron knocker. A significant part of the lower floor was occupied by the front vestibule, in which cupboards and chests were placed; from the passage a door led into a semi-dark kitchen with a huge hearth. Behind the kitchen was a large living room. It was heated by warm air coming from a special hearth in the basement. The ceiling of the lower floor was supported by massive oak beams, sometimes resting on stone consoles. A wide wooden staircase with carved railings led from the passage to the second floor.

The second floor consisted of 2 - 3 small living rooms, of which usually only one room was heated - by a kitchen hearth chimney. At the very top, under a gable roof - away from a dashing person - there were warehouses for goods. The harbor was outside the city walls, and in general the merchant preferred to store goods in his own house in those turbulent times. Bales of goods were usually lifted up through a dormer window or attic hatch directly from the street using a block suspended from a thick beam protruding under the attic window.

At the end of the 15th century The ensemble of Tallinn was enriched with a large 36-meter artillery tower Kiek in de Kök, which protected the southwestern approaches to Vyshgorod. Harmonious in proportions, the tower simultaneously contrasted and organically entered the overall composition of the castle towers. Massive, completed with a small protruding cornice, it was very different from other towers of the city wall. Its numerous loopholes were designed for conducting "fire", that is, artillery combat.

An outstanding monument of Estonian late Gothic architecture was, judging by the preserved parts (walls and western pediment), the monastery church of St. Bridgets in Pirite near Tallinn (first half of the 15th century). The monastery was built under the guidance of the Tallinn builder Svalbart. The main element of the monastery complex was a three-nave hall church, the vaults of which were supported by slender octagonal columns. Its walls are made of limestone, the vaults, apparently, were brick. Outside, along the northern wall, a two-story religious procession for nuns stretched to south wall adjoined procession for the monks. The church was supposed to give the impression of a monumental, grandiose building. A mighty parallelepiped, crowned with a high steep roof with triangular pediments, with profiled niches that lightened the mass and emphasized the aspiration of the pediment upwards, towered over the wooded area surrounding the monastery and the river valley and was visible from afar from the sea.

The most artistically significant monuments that completed the period of the later, “flaming” Gothic in Estonia were: the hall, elegant and light, harmonious in proportions, the chapel of St. Mary and architectural complex coastal gate "Rannavyarov".

Wealthy magistrates of cities and churches, especially in Tallinn, ordered altars and other artistically made church utensils from famous masters of Western Europe. During the period under review, Tallinn was characterized by constant and close economic and cultural ties with the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. In the middle of the 13th c. on the basis of Lübeck law, the city law of Tallinn was developed (fragments of the manuscript of Lübeck law of the 13th century with interesting miniatures are stored in the Tallinn city archive). At the end of the 15th century in Lübeck, an altar was purchased for the Niguliste church (1482), attributed to Hermen Rode and Jan Stenrad. The Rode altar, the largest of the carved wooden altars in the Baltics (6.32 X 2.62), included more than 40 figures - Christ, Mary, apostles, prophets and saints, arranged in rows without a clear plot connection in three tiers.

From the end of the 15th and especially at the beginning of the 16th century. Estonian art, retaining mainly medieval forms, gradually began to be saturated with secular and realistic features associated with a new stage in the history of European art, that is, with the Renaissance.

Until 1561, Estonia was part of the possessions of the Livonian Order, and after its liquidation, it came under the rule of Sweden, Denmark and Poland. Since 1629, it was all under the rule of Sweden, and at the beginning of the 18th century. was annexed to Russia. All this, as well as the international trade relations of Estonia, determined the connection of its architecture with the architecture of other countries during the 16th - 1st half of XIX V. The internal factors that influenced the development of Estonian architecture were the development of crafts and trade and the emergence in the 16th century. capitalist relations that contributed to the rise of the burghers, and the resulting changes in the worldview (affecting the church reformation and the spread of Lutheranism). The wars of the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries, which were also fought on the territory of Estonia, hindered the development of architecture and limited construction, and at the same time caused the construction of fortifications.

So, in 1532-1558. in Tallinn, to the south and northwest of the old fortress wall, new fortifications with bastions were erected, the same bastion appeared in front of the Viru Gate, and in front of the Karja Gate appeared new tower for artillery. In Narva at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. new bastions were added to the old fortress wall.

Few residential buildings were built at this time; the old ones were rebuilt more, which also applies to country estates. Built at the end of the 16th century. Orzhechovsky's house in Tartu, known from a drawing of the 17th century, had a facade of three parts, each of which ended with its own gable with volutes in the spirit of the Dutch-German Renaissance. The public buildings of Tallinn in the 16th century were close to these forms. - the now non-existent building of the city scales (1554) with a high roof, double windows and medallions between them and the so-called State Hall, attached in 1590 to the western wall of the front part of the Vyshgorod Castle.

The most valuable architectural monument of the Renaissance in Estonia is the facade of the Tallinn House of the Blackheads (Fig. 1), built in 1597 by the Tallinn master A. Passer (who was also a builder of fortresses and a sculptor who in 1595 completed the tomb monument of P. Delagardie in Tallinn cathedral). The narrow symmetrical facade of the House of the Blackheads, crowned with a high tong with volutes, is dissected by horizontal belts and decorated with a portal and reliefs: Christ and the allegories of Justice and Peace in the tong, the emblem of the Blackheads above the portal, the emblems of the most important Hanseatic cities in the interfloor belt, the heads of King Sigismund and Queen Una in gables of the lower windows and jumping Blackheads in armor on the slabs in the piers of the upper floor. Few churches were built at this time. St. John's Church in Narva (1641-1651, master Z. Hoffman the Younger), extremely simple from the outside, hall, three-aisled, had round pillars tapering upwards on high pedestals.

From the 2nd half of the 17th century. in connection with a calmer historical situation, construction activity is revived and baroque forms become more noticeable in architecture, at first restrained, akin to northern Germany and the Netherlands that influenced it.

In some cities, new development was carried out according to a regular plan, as in the more than doubled Pärnu with a new central square in front of the old Riga gates and the parallel river main street. During the reconstruction of Narva after the fire of 1659, new buildings, which gave the city greater integrity, were carried out along the old streets. In 1686, according to the project of the prominent Swedish military engineer E. Dalberg, the construction of new Narva fortifications in the form of a belt with six bastions was started, which were not completed by 1704, when the city was taken by the Russians. The fortifications of Tallinn, begun in 1627, and the fortifications of Tartu also remained unfinished. In Pärnu, from the belt of seven bastions, the monumental Tallinn Gates built according to the project of Dahlberg have been preserved. In Kuressaare, which received city rights in 1563, all four bastions have survived to this day.

Housing construction of the XVI century. best represented by the buildings of Narva, which was being rebuilt after the fire of 1659. The houses were two-storeyed with smooth walls, carved stone portals in the Dutch style and a bay window-turret in the middle of the facade, on the corner or on both corners, as can be seen in the house of Burgomaster Schwartz, built in 1686 by master Y. Teifel (Fig. 2). In Pärnu, houses still had old-fashioned high tongs, but their details were sometimes baroque. The most monumental was the Taube house in Tartu (1688), known from the drawing of that time and having a wider facade, dissected by pilasters, and a monumental staircase in front of the entrance.

Lush portals and external staircases were also characteristic of public buildings of that time - like the town hall in Narva, built by J. Teifel in the 1670s, with rarely spaced pilasters of the facade, a slender turret of 1727 and sculptural decorations of the portal by the Flemish master G. Millich ( Fig. 3). The stock exchange in this city, completed in 1704 according to the project of the architect and sculptor I. G. Heroldt, is close to it in form. in Pärnu. in 1669-1688 according to the project of the Swedish architect N. Tessin the Elder, the former order castle was rebuilt for the needs of the university. The new façade, known only from drawings, was distinguished by the austerity and laconicism characteristic of this architect. In Kuressaare, in 1663 a building for the city scales was built, and in 1670 a town hall with a modest baroque portal was built.

The restrained nature of architecture, close to other countries of Northern Europe, was by the beginning of the 18th century. traditional for Estonia, why its accession to Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. did not cause a sharp change in its development, although the construction of government buildings, led from St. Petersburg, and the construction of separate buildings in some Estonian cities according to the projects of St. Petersburg and Moscow architects left their mark. But still, most of the Estonian buildings of the 1710s-1770s followed the old traditions, combining them with some rococo elements.

Among the few residential buildings of this time, the house at 15 Uus Street in Tallinn is typical (1751, fig. 4). In it, against the background of smooth walls, cut through by rather large windows, with small bindings, an elegant portal in the forms of rococo stands out. But at this time, primitive wooden houses were built more often in the suburbs. Palace and manor construction was more intensive. A special place is occupied by the palace in Kadriorg in Tallinn, built in 1718-1725. Petersburg architects N. Michetti and M. Zemtsov (Fig. 5). The decoration of its facades has a somewhat flat character, characteristic of the St. Petersburg architecture of the time of Peter the Great, but the decoration of the main hall with two monumental fireplaces is much richer and akin in some respects to northern Italian baroque.

But in other palaces built in estates, one can see more similarities with examples of the German late Baroque, especially in their interiors. This applies to manor houses in the Saar with an interesting baroque hall and in Sagadi, built in 1750 by the master Wall and having an elegant decoration of the hall. In 1753 a house was built in the Palmse manor, and in 1755 in the Hiiu-Suuremoisa manor. In the 1760s-1770s, the old order castle in Põltsamaa was rebuilt (Fig. 6), the interiors of which were decorated in rococo forms in 1772-1774. under the guidance of the Berlin master I. M. Graff, who also worked in Latvia, where he decorated the interiors of the Biron palaces in Jelgava and Rundale, built by Rastrelli.

Links with the late German baroque are also visible in the building of the provincial government in Tallinn, completed in 1773 according to the project of J. Schulz, but the interior of the hall of this building was already made in the spirit of early classicism. Only the Orthodox Catherine's Church in Pärnu is an example of late Russian baroque (1768, Moscow architect V. Yakovlev). The Lutheran Elizabethan Church in the same city (1747), built by the Riga masters I. X. Guterbock and I. X. Vulbern, is very modest, but has an interesting portal. In Tallinn, in 1779, according to the project of I. Geist, the baroque top of the bell tower of the Transfiguration Church was built and in the same years the baroque Manteuffel chapel and a number of more modest chapels in the Kopley cemetery were built in the Muigu cemetery.

Relations with Russian architecture became more noticeable in the years 1770-1840 - at the time of classicism, although ties with German architecture were not interrupted. For Estonia, this time was a time of economic growth, the expansion of foreign trade, the revival of construction and the flourishing of architecture, corresponding to the flourishing that the architecture of the entire Russian Empire was experiencing at that time.

The large-scale urban redevelopment carried out by the Russian government also affected Estonia, being especially noticeable in cities that suffered from fires (Tartu, 1775). According to the regular plan, the construction of a new county town Vyru. In housing construction, new features were most pronounced in facades, while the layout of houses often followed old traditions. In some places, the traditional composition of facades with high tongs decorated with volutes was also used. Sometimes the facades were divided by pilasters in the upper floors; the lower floor was rusticated, and the middle part of the building was crowned with a pediment or attic. Such is the house at Nyukogudeväljak 8 in Tartu, where echoes of the Baroque are still visible in the design of the window casings (Fig. 7).

Most often, the facades of residential buildings did not have pilasters, but their rather rich decoration consisted of window frames, friezes and stucco garlands, rosettes and medallions. In general, these facades are close to the architecture of houses in North German cities, the natives of which were many craftsmen who were then working in Estonia. Such are the Tallinn houses at 10 Uus Street (1791), at 19 Pikk Street (Fig. 8), at 2 Raamatukogu Street with rich decoration of the facade, at 2 Kohtu Street (1798), some houses in Kuressaare, Pärnu, Võru , Haapsalu and others.

Manor houses of this time usually have three risalits, the middle, wider one is sometimes crowned with a pediment. Facades are often articulated with pilasters, but porticos are still rare. Examples of manors of that time are the manor in Pade (architect J. B. Wallen Delamotte), which has not survived, the manors in Saue, Eesmäe, Ryagavere, Roozna-Alliku-Mydriku, and others. built in 1784 according to the project of I. Moor, very strict in architecture and similar to a manor house with its front yard and outbuildings, as well as the town hall in Tartu (1789, architect I. X. Walter, fig. 9) with a modest decoration of the facade and a turret on the ridge of the roof. Numerous postal stations and taverns were built in the same years. Of the churches of that time, the most interesting are the Lutheran church in Valga, which began construction in 1787 according to the project of the Riga architect K. Haberland, but was completed only in 1816, and the church in Võru (1793, fig. 10). Finally, it should be noted A stone bridge in Tartu, completed in 1783 (probably by the design of the French engineer Perrone) with the structure of the middle part, reminiscent of a triumphal arch.

The period of late classicism (1800-1840) was a time of even greater revival of construction in Estonia. At that time, work was underway to improve the sanitary improvement of cities and streamline their development, in which a positive role was played by the order of 1809 on the use of albums of “exemplary facades” of residential buildings developed in St. Petersburg. Housing construction also expanded, especially in Tartu, where the foundation of the university in 1802 contributed to the growth of the city.

The leading architects were I. V. Krause, I. A. Krahnhals the Elder and G. V. Geist. The facades of residential buildings of this time were strict, even solemn. They were decorated only with pilasters with pediments in the center and ornamented panels between the windows of the first and second floors. Such are the house at 16 Nyukogudeväljak Street (architect I.V. Krause) and the houses that have not survived on Kalura, Jaama, Aleksandri and other streets. The mansion at 8 Kohtu Street in Tallinn is even more monumental thanks to its six-columned Ionic portico (1811-1814, architect K. I. Janikhen).

Among the public buildings of that time, the main building of the University of Tartu (1804-1809, architect I.V. Krause, Fig. 11) with rustication of the lower floor, a six-column Tuscan portico and an Ionic colonnade of the assembly hall and built by the same architect in 1804- 1805 rotunda of the university anatomical theater (wing, 1825-1827). A prominent role in the appearance of Tartu was played by the shopping arcade, completed in 1821 (Fig. 12). Their colonnade closed one of the sides of a rectangular square with the same type of facades of the buildings surrounding it and a monument to Field Marshal Barclay de Tolly by V. I. Demuth-Malinovsky in the center. In the 1st half of the XIX century. continued to build postal stations and taverns (Fig. 13). Smooth walls, simplified colonnades and high roofs gave the appearance of these buildings a peculiar rural character.

Manor houses of that time, in their planning and decoration of facades and interiors, approached palaces. Porticos have now become almost obligatory for new houses and are often attached to old ones, and the rotunda has become a common rotunda on courtyard facades. The number of rooms has increased. There were rooms for receiving guests and games, libraries, art galleries, winter gardens, etc. The Great Hall was decorated with an internal colonnade, choirs for musicians and a gallery for the orchestra. Of the Estonian manor houses of this period, the most interesting are the house with a rotunda in Khireda (circa 1812, Fig. 14), the house in Riisiper with a beautiful hall (1821), the houses in Saku (circa 1820), Raiküla, Miao, etc.

Among the churches early XIX V. interesting is the Orthodox St. Nicholas Church in Tallinn - cubic with a dome and two bell towers and a portico of the western facade (Fig. 15). Its design was made by the St. Petersburg architect L. Ruska in 1807, but, apparently, was changed by the city architect Shatten, who built the church in 1822-1827.

The period of classicism in Estonia was very fruitful and left a large number of artistically valuable buildings, which, along with the Gothic ones, give both cities and rural areas of the country a peculiar look.

Chapter "Estonian architecture of the 17th - first half of the 19th centuries" section "Europe" from the book "The General History of Architecture. Volume VII. Western Europe And Latin America. XVII - the first half of the XIX centuries. edited by A.V. Bunina (responsible editor), A.I. Kaplun, P.N. Maksimov.

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• Address: Tallinn, Ahtri, 2.;
• Working hours: cf. - Fri. 11:00-18:00; Sat., Sun. 10:00-18:00. Day off: Mon., Tue.;
• Entrance: The cost of a full ticket is 4 EUR, reduced - 2 EUR, family - 6 EUR.;
• Web site: www.arhitektuurimuuseum.ee;
• Telephone: (+372) 625 7000 .

The architectural museum belongs to one of the most significant cultural museums. It presents expositions showing how the architecture of the capital developed during the 20th century, which will be of great interest to tourists.

The history of the creation and location of the museum

The founding date of the Estonian Museum of Architecture is January 1, 1991. The purpose of its creation was to document the history and subsequent development of Estonian architecture. The exhibits presented in it belong to the period of the 20th century. The museum has the status of a member of the International Confederation of Museums of Architecture ICAM.

The museum was not always located in the building it now occupies. At the very beginning of its activity, it was located on Kooli Street 7, and the rooms of the ancient Loewenschede tower were assigned for its exhibits.

In 1996, the Estonian Museum of Architecture moved to the building that it still occupies today, it is called the Rotermann Salt Store. The grand opening of the museum and the access of its collections to the public took place on June 7, 1996.

The building of the salt warehouse is a grand building and remarkable in itself, it is an outstanding example of Estonian architecture. It was built of limestone in 1908, the project of the Baltic-German engineer Ernst Boustedt was taken as the basis for its construction.

In 1995-1996, the salt warehouse was reconstructed, which was carried out according to the project of the architect Ülo Peili and the interior architect Taso Mähari. Until 2005, the building also housed an exhibition hall. Art Museum, but it moved out, and currently only exhibitions of the Estonian Museum of Architecture are presented there.

Estonian Museum of Architecture today

The Estonian Museum of Architecture regularly opens exhibitions for visiting Estonians and tourists. Their total number exceeds 200, there are about 10 thousand exhibits, they are presented in the following collections:

• 159 architecture and design exhibitions;
• 41 exhibition of fine and applied arts;
• exhibitions of theatrical, fashion and electronic art;
• international exhibitions which are organized with the participation of other museums of world renown;
• special attention deserves the model of the central part of Tallinn, which can rightfully be called one of the most outstanding expositions of the museum;
• The museum collections include numerous maps settlements, projects and models of buildings and entire districts of the Estonian capital, articles that describe how Estonian architecture has developed from the beginning of the 20th century to the present day;
• the oldest drawings include those developed in 1848 by the St. Petersburg architect Georg Winterhalter, which depict the facade and interior of the Knights' Chamber in;
• a unique exhibit is the plan of Greater Tallinn, which was created in 1913 by the famous Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen.

How to get there?

The Estonian Museum of Architecture is located in the central part on Ahtri Street 2. It is convenient to get to it both from the airport and from the Old Town, the journey will take a maximum of 10 minutes. To get to the museum, you can use bus route №2.

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Books

• Sergey Kvach. Graphics, painting, architecture, design, Natalya Kvach. Sergei Kvach was born on May 25, 1956 in the town of Uren, Gorky Region. In 1975 he graduated from an art school and in 1980 from the Institute of Architecture and Construction in Nizhny Novgorod (the former city of…