Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

The history of the beginning of this temple which it is safely possible to name the most Russian sight of Estonia, has two versions. According to the first the order about temple building was given personally by Alexander III, the second asserts that the governor of Estland Shahovsky was the initiator. Anyway on this sacred business 434,623 roubles have been collected and on April the 30th of the 1900 the Cathedral of Sacred Prince Alexander Nevsky has accepted the first prayers. The architect Michael Preobrazhensky was the designer of the project. The name of the patron have been chosen not casually, after all in 1242 not very far from Tallinn, on Chudsky lake the prince Alexander has gained a historical victory over the Teutonic knights. Today the cathedral has perfectly well remained and by right it is considered the most majestic of the Orthodox monuments of Tallinn. It is enough to mention that one of the Cathedral's eleven bells weighs 15 tons. Not once the cathedral appeared on "a hairsbreadth" from destruction.
So in the twenties of the XX century the government suggested to take down the temple as it symbolized Russian sovereignty and in the 60 s the young Tallinn's bishop Alex who has become subsequently the Patriarch Alex II has protected the Cathedral from pernicious reorganization.