St Nicholas Church and Museum (Tallinn)

 I am very thankful that our guide Eddy accompanied us to visit 3 churches in Tallinn on the free half day. Can you imagine going to Tallinn just to see the exterior of the church and not have the opportunity to explore. I guess one would attribute this as package tour. 

 

St. Nicholas' Church is a medieval former church in Tallinn, Estonia. It was dedicated to Saint Nicholas, the patron of the fishermen and sailors.

 

The church was founded and built around 1230–1275 by Westphalian merchants, who came from Gotland in the 13th century.

 

Exquisite altarpieces, medieval burial slabs and other works of religious art can be seen in this 1230-era church-turned-museum.

 

The High Altar by Hermen Rode

Danse Macabre by Bernt Notke

Most famous of the artworks in the museum is perhaps a Danse Macabre by the Lübeck master Bernt Notke, which depicts the transience of life, the skeletal figures of Death taking along the mighty as well as the feeble ones. Danse Macabre or The Dance of Death was a popular medieval motif in art. Only the initial fragment of the original 30 metres wide painting has been preserved and is currently displayed in St Nicholas' Church.