Anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely love to travel! I am grateful that I have had the opportunity to go to so many places, most recently to the Baltic countries where our first stop was Tallinn, Estonia.
A definite favorite of our time in Tallinn was the Pirita convent which was dedicated on August 15, 1436 and only operated until 1575 when it was brutally destroyed by the Russians and left in ruins for more than 300 years.
Excavations began in 1934 and continued into the 1960s.
Since the main activity of the nuns was praying and singing, the sisters at Pirita convent can be called the first
large women’s choir in Estonia. Gathering in the church seven times daily the sisters sang the entire Old Testament book of Psalms each week, 150 psalms. Singing is an important part of the Estonian culture. Every school child is required to participate in choir. Estonian songs often stressed the will of the free nation to battle foreign forces and one popular song called upon anyone who dreams about freedom, to
escape.
The sisters never left the convent and upon their death were
buried in their own church.
No comments:
Post a Comment