Similarly to the Middle Ages, the pilgrims of today are constantly on their way from different corners of Europe to Santiago, the city that was declared as being holy by Pope Alexander III. Santiago de Compostela is the final destination of the legendary medieval pilgrimages and its uniqueness is confirmed by its entry into the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Estonia and Harjumaa have churches that also deserve to be included in the plans of pilgrims. The route description Pilgrimages in Harjumaa helps travellers to find the beautiful churches and chapels of the county, but also provides tips on other points of interest. Trips to the shrines may be taken in the western or eastern parts of Harjumaa, and the wayfarer’s churches are open to anyone who is on the road.
Pilgrimage routes Tallinn surroundings
Harjumaa have churches that deserve to be included in the plans of pilgrims.
Pilgrimage routes Tallinn surroundings
Related objects
Check on map
St. Matthias' Church in Harju-Madise
The high belltower of St. Matthias' Church in Harju-Madise, which was built in the 15th–18th centuries, doubles as a lighthouse for Pakri Bay.
According to a legend, the church was built by a Captain Matthias who was rescued after being shipwrecked. The legend is confirmed by the location of the...
St. Michael’s (Miikaeli) Church in Keila
The construction of the biggest mediaeval country church in Harju County probably started immediately after Northern Estonia had been subjected to the king of Denmark. There is no data about the first years of the church, but in about 1280, a spacious quadrangular chapel that forms the choir room...
Church of Blessed Virgin Mary (Püha Neitsi Maarja) in Jõelähtme
Jõelähtme Church is one of the oldest churches in Estonia. The church was originally made of wood, and it was established during the period of the Danes’ conquest at the beginning of the 1220s. In written records, the Church of Blessed Virgin Mary in Jõelähtme is first mentioned in 1241, and...
St. Lawrence Church in Kuusalu
Kuusalu Church, dedicated to protodeacon martyr St. Lawrence, is considered to be one of the oldest stone churches in Northern Estonia. It was most likely the Gotlandish Cistercian monks who started building a house of God on the boundary of their property next to the holy springs in Kuusalu at the...
St Nicholas’ Lutheran Chapel in Saha
Saha Chapel used to be one of the oldest ecclesiastical centres built on the site of an ancient sacred place of Estonians. According to a folk story it is even 50 years older than the City of Tallinn and it was established by bishop Fulco.
The exact time of establishment of the chapel is not known...
St. Nicholas Church in Kose
This Medieval fortified church was possibly built soon after the city of Tallinn was established around the 1230's.
The pulpit (Tobias Heintze), its Baroque iconostasis (1774), a painting titled “The Entombment of Jesus” (Otto Zoege von Manteuffel), as well as wheel crosses in the church wall and...
St. George’s Church in Jüri
Built: 1885
A pseudi-Gothic church (architect Friedrich Axel von Howen) built on a mediaeval foundation. The interior reflects the colours of the Estonian flag. A very old church bell. A wheel cross on the buttress, unique stone crosses and a memorial (1989) to the first Estonian Bible in the...
Church of Blessed Virgin Mary in Nissi
The Church of Blessed Virgin Mary in Nissi was built in 1873. It is a historicist church with a 52.5-metre-high tower. Its magnificent stained-glass windows St. John the Evangelist and St. Peter the Apostle were made in Riga (H. Beyermann, 1902).
The church has stylish pseudo-gothic furnishings and...
St. Mary's Church on Naissaare
Naissaare church, standing on an island 12 km from Tallinn, was constructed in 1934 to the designs of architect Karl Tarvas. It was consecrated in 1938.
It has a very simple but masterful architectural design with traditional use of materials and good proportions. The design combines a...
Church of Saint Stephen the Martyr at Harkujärve
Charismatic Episcopal Church of Estonia
Built: 1994
Harkujärve village church (architect Jaak Kuriks) belongs to a congregation that unites the charismatic and the liturgical-sacramental church life.
Pickwa St. Michael Chapel
The chapel of Tallinn Diaconal Hospital, designed in 1891, was a little building in the yard of a large complex of the Tallinn Magdaleena Hospital.
Pickwa St. Michael Chapel was moved to Pikva because it was a disruptive factor for the local real estate development.
It was a chapel in the...
Map