24 July 2007
tuoreimmat uutiset
I am making a number of posts to my blog this week. In addition to the posts below, please note the new entry for the Lauritsala church. Please check back soon for more entries. (Note that new entries are being dated by when I visited the places referred to.)
20 July 2007
matkustan Eestiin
Estonia is less than two hours from Helsinki by boat. My friend Jocelyn and I took a Nordic Jet Line boat across the Gulf of Finland and spent the day in the capitol, Tallinn.
Tallinn was a member of the Hanseatic League and is a much older city than Helsinki. It was founded around the 10th century and was shown on a map dated to 1154. The well-preserved old town sits on a terraced hill surrounded by the newer parts of the city. The skyline is domimated by the square tower and spire of St Olav's church, which at one time was the tallest building in Europe (159 meters high).
Unlike most medieval streets, those in Tallinn are not narrow. Perhaps this, like the cranes that project from the gables of many buildings, is the result of the city's commercial legacy.
The Estonian Open Air Museum is about half an hour west of the city center. Helsinki's Seurasaari is a model for this museum, which consists of vernacular building relocated from various regions of the country. However, the Estonian museum is much more informative than Seurasaari. It consists of 72 buildings, most of which were built in the 19th century. The prevalence of stacked timber construction and the use of certain wood details relate these buildings to their Finnish contemporaries. However, in Estonia roofs were more often thatched than shingled.
Most doorways were square: not only low overhead, but raised off the ground. Entering a room required sitting down and then swinging the legs over the sill. The log which formed the sill was smoothed through the action of people using it. Moreover, the doorway was used not only as an entrance but also as a place to sit. Level threshholds and automated opening devices make the act of passing through modern door almost inconsequential. The Estonian farmhouse doors required physical engagement with the building but enhanced "the dialetics of inside and outside" (Gaston Bachelard).
The museum is beautifully set in a wooded area on the shore of the Baltic. Wild strawberries, raspberries, and red currants grow around and between the buildings. We found some snails that would emerge from their tightly-shut shells after being warmed under the breath.
Estonian is the language most closely related to Finnish, and many words were familiar to me (although Estonian words more often end with consonants and include a few differently-accented vowels). An example, from a book about doorknobs sold at the museum shop: "Kui palju oma elu jooksjul puudutab inimene teise inimese kätt teretamaks, lohutamaks, hellitamaks. Sagedamini käest, puudutatakse maja 'kätt' - ukselinki. Sedasama, mis lõunapoolsel tänavaküljel on soojem, mille kuju tuntakse peo all, kuid tihti ei märgata."
("A person touches the hand of another person numerous times during their life, in greeting, in sympathy, with affection. Even more often, a hand touches the 'hand' of a house - the doorknob. The very same one that feels a bit warmer on the southern side of the street, the shape of which you can feel inside your palm, and yet the thing which often goes unnoticed.")
- Ene Kull and Risto Paju. Ava Open. Tallinn: Printon, 2006. (p. 13)
(posted 23 July)
Tallinn was a member of the Hanseatic League and is a much older city than Helsinki. It was founded around the 10th century and was shown on a map dated to 1154. The well-preserved old town sits on a terraced hill surrounded by the newer parts of the city. The skyline is domimated by the square tower and spire of St Olav's church, which at one time was the tallest building in Europe (159 meters high).
Unlike most medieval streets, those in Tallinn are not narrow. Perhaps this, like the cranes that project from the gables of many buildings, is the result of the city's commercial legacy.
The Estonian Open Air Museum is about half an hour west of the city center. Helsinki's Seurasaari is a model for this museum, which consists of vernacular building relocated from various regions of the country. However, the Estonian museum is much more informative than Seurasaari. It consists of 72 buildings, most of which were built in the 19th century. The prevalence of stacked timber construction and the use of certain wood details relate these buildings to their Finnish contemporaries. However, in Estonia roofs were more often thatched than shingled.
Most doorways were square: not only low overhead, but raised off the ground. Entering a room required sitting down and then swinging the legs over the sill. The log which formed the sill was smoothed through the action of people using it. Moreover, the doorway was used not only as an entrance but also as a place to sit. Level threshholds and automated opening devices make the act of passing through modern door almost inconsequential. The Estonian farmhouse doors required physical engagement with the building but enhanced "the dialetics of inside and outside" (Gaston Bachelard).
The museum is beautifully set in a wooded area on the shore of the Baltic. Wild strawberries, raspberries, and red currants grow around and between the buildings. We found some snails that would emerge from their tightly-shut shells after being warmed under the breath.
Estonian is the language most closely related to Finnish, and many words were familiar to me (although Estonian words more often end with consonants and include a few differently-accented vowels). An example, from a book about doorknobs sold at the museum shop: "Kui palju oma elu jooksjul puudutab inimene teise inimese kätt teretamaks, lohutamaks, hellitamaks. Sagedamini käest, puudutatakse maja 'kätt' - ukselinki. Sedasama, mis lõunapoolsel tänavaküljel on soojem, mille kuju tuntakse peo all, kuid tihti ei märgata."
("A person touches the hand of another person numerous times during their life, in greeting, in sympathy, with affection. Even more often, a hand touches the 'hand' of a house - the doorknob. The very same one that feels a bit warmer on the southern side of the street, the shape of which you can feel inside your palm, and yet the thing which often goes unnoticed.")- Ene Kull and Risto Paju. Ava Open. Tallinn: Printon, 2006. (p. 13)
(posted 23 July)
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