St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn
church in Tallinn, Estonia
St. Olaf's, or St. Olav's Church (Estonian: Oleviste kirik; German: Olaikirche), is a Baptist church in Tallinn, Estonia; originally a Roman Catholic Church, after the Reformation it was a Lutheran church. It is the tallest church building in Estonia – 123.7 meters above ground level, with an observation platform in the church tower at a height of 60 meters. It is assumed that a church stood on the same site before the 12th century, built by Scandinavian merchants and named after the canonized Norwegian King Olav II Haraldsson, who is considered a patron saint of seafarers (also known as Saint Olaf, 995–1030).
History
The earliest mention of the church dates back to 1267. At that time, Queen Margaret of Denmark granted the Cistercian convent of St. Michael in Reval (Tallinn) the parish rights to St. Olaf's Church. Little is known about the early years of the Gothic church building.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn” as church in Tallinn, Estonia. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as church in Tallinn, Estonia. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q834511. VIAF identifies the subject as 6866149544613100490009. Authority coordinates are 59.441, 24.748. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1030 and 1267.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn primary sources, St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn archive and Olaf's research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “St. Olaf's Church, Tallinn” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.