St Olav's Church

The most prominent feature of the Tallinn skyline is surely the splendid spire of St Olav's Church. Built sometime in the 13th Century, the Church became the tallest building in the world around 1500 when the steeple was raised to 159m. Several lightning strikes and burnings-down later and the modest height of 123.7m was settled on. Although the Church is widely acknowledged to be named after the Norwegian King Olav II Haraldsson, another legend has it that the gargantuan house of worship was named after a mysterious architect who promised to build the edifice for free - if only the townspeople could guess his name. The architect was just fixing the cross on the steeple, when a certain smart-alec shouted out that it was Olev. The poor man realised that he had forfeited his fee, slipped and fell to his death. Subsequently the Church took its Estonian name 'Oleviste'.

"The view is absolutely amazing, you can see the whole city from the top: the Old Town, the harbour, even some far-away districts. However, remember that it's not so easy to get to the top. It's quite exhausting and the steps are steep and narrow, so better grab a hold on something if someone is coming from the opposite direction!"

Ewa Ulinska
Poland
Aug.07.2007
Overall rating 5/5

"Climbing to the look-out platform was a challenge at least 10 stories one step at a time, but well worth the effort. The views of the city & harbor are spectacular."

Gary Kienast
United States
Jun.05.2007
Overall rating 5/5