Tartu Cathedral, Tartu, Estonia

Taru was our last Estonia destination. In planning the trip, I wanted to visit because it is not only the second largest city in Estonia, but also the intellectual center, with Tartu University being located here. In retrospect, it might have been more reasonable to choose a national park or a place of natural beauty, but this ruin of Tartu Cathedral, located on the beautiful Toome Hill on the Tartu University campus, is well worth seeing. It is huge and the only mediaeval church with two spires in Estonia. The construction of the church started in the 13th century and the church was fully completed in the beginning of the 16th century.

Devastated during the Livonia War (1558 - 1583), it was left in a state of ruin and in the 1760s, the high twin towers of the church were demolished. As part of the reconstruction of the University of Tartu in 1804-1807, rooms of the university library were built in the cathedral choir. After the completion of the new university library building in 1981, the University of Tartu Museum moved in. The ruins of the Tartu Cathedral are one of the most prominent examples of brick-Gothic buildings in Old Livonia. Really lovely.