Fat Margaret's tower Photo

Photographer’s Note

A photo of the Great Coastal Gate and Fat Margarett's tower in Tallinn, which I shot three weeks ago. The weather was not very favourable in Tallinn that day. Not much snow left, but the low lying glouds made the overall mood grey. Totally another kind of atmosphere than in a sunny summer day in Tallinn.

The Great Coastal Gate (Suur Rannavärav) and Fat Margaret's Tower (Paks Margareeta) were built as a defence on the seaward side of town, but also for impressing visitors coming in from the sea. During the reconstruction of the gate in the early 16th century, the cannon tower Fat Margaret was added. The round tower, with 155 loopholes, a diameter of 25 meters, and a height of about 20 meters, was built to protect the harbour. It got its name from the fact that it was indeed the stoutest tower in the city wall. Through history, the cannon tower has also served as a storehouse for gunpowder and weapons, and as a prison.

Fat Margaret's Tower now houses the Estonian Maritime Museum, with a permanent exhibit on Estonian maritime and fishing history. The extensive museum covers four floors of the Fat Margaret cannon tower. There is a good view over the harbour and the Old Town.

The steeple on the right is the one of St. Olav's church (Olaviste Kirik). It dates back to the 13th century and around AD 1500 it used to be the tallest church in Medieval Europe. The then 159-meter high church is now only 123,7 meters high, because it has suffered lightning and fire for numerous times. The church was named after the Norwegian king Olav II Haraldsson, canonised as a saint. St. Olav was considered to be the protector of seafarers.

In WS is a closer view through the gate towards the Old Town.

The mark of the map is placed at the tower.
Geocode: 59.442566,24.749504

rey316, gracious, horias, saxo042, rodgerg, paololg, fanni, Cretense, Longroute, serp2000 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

rey316 (1902) 2009-04-11 11:10

Hej Lasse
interesting structure here. Good work
Glad Påsk
Andrey

gracious (20017) 2009-04-11 11:16

Hello Lasse,
Thank you for this wonderful architecture shot! the pov is great even with this sort of weather condition, the shot is sharp with good details!
thanks for the informative notes also!
have a wonderfu and happy Easter
cheers
Tony

horias (161) 2009-04-11 11:24

Hallo Lasse
What a great shot.I like the details of the houses.
Best for you, Horia

saxo042 (16298) 2009-04-11 11:33

Hej Lasse,
This is in fact a very interesting part of the Swedish history as well! A very impressive tower and a well balanced photo! The note is highly appreciated!
Kind regards
Gunnar

cobra112 (11944) 2009-04-11 12:11

Ciao Lasse. Composizione azzeccata ed equilibrata. Ottimo il campanile come elemento verticale e l'eccezionale dettaglio sulla prspettiva dopo l'arco. Molto ben fatto.

Roberto

Buin (38280) 2009-04-11 12:16

Hallo Lasse!
Weather doesn't matter when showing something interesting! And this fortification indeed IS something interesting. What a daunting tower! I think I never have seen such a colossus of fortification - and under a grey sky it even seems to be more impressive ;-) An all in all interesting contribution!
Greetings from sunny and warm Germany - today 24°C - and a Happy Easter to you and yours!
Frank

francio64 (11782) 2009-04-11 13:11

Ciao Lasse,
un inverno molto lungo quello di questo anno. Anche in Sicilia non ha dato tregua.

Immagine con un buon POV e ottimo sharp!

Ti auguro una buona Pasqua!

Francesco

Silvio1953 (42869) 2009-04-12 11:43

Ciao Lasse, splendid view of wonderful architecture, great POV and beautiful perspective, very well done, Happy Easter, ciao Silvio

rodgerg (25027) 2009-04-12 12:47

Hello Lasse,

A very interesting architecture and a good shot with many details well collected, a POV well selected and a good balance in the composition.
Have a good evening,
Roger

paololg (14241) 2009-04-12 15:24

Ciao dear Lasse,
interesting architectural composition captured in a cold day. Even if the light was not as much the details are perfect and the good depth of field allows us to admire the buildings behind the arc. Like a lot me!
Ciao, have a nice week!
Paolo

fanni (8879) 2009-04-12 23:09

Hello Lasse,
what a funny comparison of the "fat" tower and the "thin" church on the right, with its even thinner sharp steeple! I like this POV :) And in a way the street lamp on the left in front of the tower balances the "thin" church on the right.
But I also think that the WS photo which I also like very much deserves a separate posting, not as a WS complementary image. Anyway it's just my opinion :)
Have a nice Easter week!
best regards,
Elena

Cretense (57010) 2009-04-13 6:18

Hi Lasse!

Beautiful architecture photo, great capture of these somehow "unusual" buildings! Great composition and framing, great light managment under dificult conditions created by the cloudy sky! Congratulations!

Hercules

Longroute (9865) 2009-04-15 9:40

Hello Lasse,

I thought you had finished with the Tallin series... but you still kept something to show us. Both Tower (really fat) and gate plus the bell tower are interesting and fine, the first two are really typical medieval architectures similar all over Europe. I find the image very sharp and the colours quite natural and enjoyable in spite of the gray weather. The only thing I don't like is the pale and flat sky... But you could do nothing about it! (:-
Best greetings from our -at last- sunny island,
Donato

serp2000 (9717) 2009-04-19 3:38

Terve, Lasso,
Very interesting fortress, fine composition, very impressive tower.Good note! TFS!
Serghei