#148 Tartu, Estonia

1. Ruins of the Dome Cathedral - The steep slopes of the gravely and sandy small cape of the River Emajõgi (the Dome Hill) offered protection for a stronghold built on them in the middle of the first millennium. The stronghold was one of the largest constructions of ancient Estonia. In 1224, Germans destroyed the stronghold that had been rebuilt by Estonians and erected a bishop's castle, castrum Tarbate, on its place. The contours of the bishop's castle have been marked in old town plans and parts of the castle walls have been found in archaeological excavations.

The northern prominence of the cape was chosen as the place for a dome church (hence, the name Domberg). The church was surrounded by a cemetery and houses of the members of the cathedral chapter. The bishop's castle and the dome church were separated from the town by a strong wall.

Construction of the dome church dedicated to apostles St. Peter and Paul probably began in the second half of the 13th century. In 1299, the choir part and the nave were in use.The high- rise choir hall with head pillars was completed in the current size only in 1470's. The west side of the dome with the large tetrahedral twin towers known to us was also built in the second half of the 15th century. The height of the towers was 66 meters. After their demolition up to the hight of the walls of the central nave by an engineering team working in Tartu in 1763, a cannon platform was to be established there.

During the Russian- Livonian war, the church was damaged and by the beginning of the 17th century, the vaults of the construction had been shattered. Some of the valuable furnishings were taken to St. Mary's church. Later, wooden sheds built between the walls, were used as crop and hay storage facilities.

In 1806, the first architect of the university, J. W. Krause, had the choir part of the Dome Church rebuilt into a library. The high-rise choir hall was divided into three storeys. In 1928, the side naves of the library were expanded.

2. Tartu University - The University of Tartu (Estonian: Tartu Ülikool, Latin: Universitas Tartuensis) is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia. The University of Tartu is a member of the Coimbra Group and the Utrecht Network, and was established by King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632, thus being one of the oldest universities in Northern Europe.

3. View of the town from river Emajõgi - The Emajõgi (German: Embach; Latvian: Mētra) is a river in Estonia which flows from Lake Võrtsjärv through Tartu County into Lake Peipus, crossing the city of Tartu for 10 km. It has a length of 100 km. The name Emajõgi means "Mother River" in Estonian. The Emajõgi is sometimes called the Suur Emajõgi ("Great Emajõgi"), in contrast with the Väike Emajõgi ("Little Emajõgi"), another river which flows into the southern end of Lake Võrtsjärv. Emajõgi is the second largest river in Estonia by discharge and the only fully navigable river.

Date of Issue: October 25, 2012 - Railway Bridges - Narva

Aitäh, Katrina !

Look, what my stupid postbox did ! First it was wet and I couldn't get the card out of it and later when I got the keys, it was frozen inside and I ripped the card..

Sent on: November 8, 2012
Received on: November 9, 2012