The proximity of the Alexander Nevsky Russian Orthodox cathedral to parliament, in the centre of Tallinn, I suppose aroused anti-Russian sentiment and led some people to moot its demolition and replacement with a park.
In general the creation of parks is A Good Thing. After severe flooding in Valencia a river was diverted and the bed transformed into a riverine park; there’s more about this in a 2024 post: The Rain in Spain. After a Russian bombing raid on part of the Old Town in Tallinn in March 1944 the destroyed part of a medieval area was turned into a park. More than 750 people were killed and about 1,500 buildings destroyed. Likewise some bomb sites in London were turned into small parks, adventure playgrounds or, less laudably, car parks.
But I digress. Baroque comes in many forms – music, art and architecture come to mind. The subset within architecture includes Petrine Baroque which is easily explained. It is the architectural style in St Petersburg created by Peter the Great. There are examples of this style outside St P but they are few. One such is a palace Peter built for his wife, Catherine I. Peter I is The Great but Catherine The Great is his grandson’s, Peter III’s, wife. I think it is interesting that P the G was Tsar of Russia until his conquests justified him, at least in his eyes, crowning himself Emperor. I am certain Putin in his deranged mind imagines himself as creating a new empire of which he will be the immortal emperor.
Peter built the Kadriorg Palace for Catherine in a park of the same name circa 1720. Neither of them lived here but fortuitously it has survived the turbulent 20th century history of Estonia and it’s not threatened by its Russian heritage.
Kadriorg, by the way, means Catherine’s Valley in English although Estonia is a flat country and not blessed with many hills or valleys. The palace today houses part of Estonia’s national art collection. It has an excellent shop and a cafe with a few sought after outside tables on the first day of spring in Tallinn. The park still had mounds of snow looking like an art installation.
