There are many legends and fairy tales about Tallinn, many of which are already known and even formed the basis of exciting books, plays and films. However, there is always something unknown and intriguing.
For such new stories Sputnik Estonia went on a visit to the "city healer" Travnitsa. And to tell the truth, a cool summer evening, abundantly flavored with a long thunderstorm, made up an impressive, albeit not very comfortable, but impressive scenery for an excursion to the places of unknown legends of Old Tallinn.
Good luck
Armed with jackets, hoods and umbrellas, lovers of antiquity and "scary" stories gathered at the City Hall. The group of daredevils, eager to learn something new and mysterious, which is still hidden in the streets of their beloved city, turned out to be not small - a dozen or so people came to listen to Travnitsa.
Tour of Tallinn "Unknown legends of the Old Town, ghosts of the past." & copy; SPUTNIK / SVETLANA BURTSEVA
She, in an embroidered dress and a colorful sheepskin coat tied with a tight belt, met the adventurers with a calm gaze. The head of the Herbalist was covered with a long black annen, decorated with a black openwork veil. The length of this medieval attire transparently hinted at a rather complicated pedigree of the "city healer".
Both the townspeople and the "overseas merchants", but simply the locals and tourists who visited the capital of Estonia, "having fallen under the spell of witchcraft" Travnitsa, immediately plunged into a bright, emotional, fascinating tale about our city.
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The journey began at the walls of the Town Hall. And one of the first stories was the story of a young pagan, his indecent behavior within the walls of the Church of the Holy Spirit and his ignorance of the German language, which in those ancient times were divine services. All this led the ignorant to a harsh punishment - three days and three nights, without sleep, water and even a toilet, chained to a shameful place, he had to make inhuman sounds … "Conclusion - you need to learn languages!" - Herbalist winked, not jokingly, or seriously.
And at the same time, despite the fact that in the good city of Tallinn, the young man was forced to answer so hard for his misdeed, it was here that he was able to find freedom. After all, Tallinn gave shelter to serfs and made them its free citizens.
Freedom of serfs who had escaped from cruel masters began in the city basement, where, just putting his finger under a special note instead of a personal signature, the fugitive gained the opportunity in a year and one day to look at his now former master without fear.
The ghost of Magnus Revelsky
Proceeding along Town Hall Square past the oldest pharmacy in the city, Travnitsa led her breathless listeners to the oldest residential building on the coast. A long time ago, in the XIV century, the prior of the Dominican monastery lived here. Moreover, it turns out that the word "android" was already known at that time, and in the oldest house on the entire coast of the Gulf of Finland it took on a physical embodiment. The veil over the secrets of the ghost house was lifted just eight years ago when a cache of strange dolls was opened.
Tour of Tallinn "Unknown legends of the Old Town, ghosts of the past." & copy; SPUTNIK / SVETLANA BURTSEVA
The herbalist said that if you come to the house after midnight, stand in a certain place and look through the stained glass window, you can see a ghost with a candle in his hands. Undoubtedly, the ghost of Magnus Revelsky, as he is called, knows a lot about the life of a strange prior, who was (of course, outside the monastery) not at all alien to magic and completely non-church knowledge and skills.
And walled up and executed
The herbalist said that the walls of one of the towers around the Old City, erected at the beginning of the 14th century, preserved the story of a girl walled up in the tower. It turns out that the complexity of the tower's construction and the intrigues of dark forces forced the builders to use the oldest method of walled up a living person.
One of the towers of the Old City. & copy; SPUTNIK / SVETLANA BURTSEVA
In general, according to Travnitsa, in the Middle Ages all over Europe they believed that it was enough to walled up a living person in the walls of a house in order to successfully complete the construction. The soul of the unfortunate person helped in construction matters and subsequently protected the building itself.
For the sake of truth, it is worth mentioning that in the good old days they could have been bricked up not only for the purpose of construction and the safety of buildings. According to one of the legends of the Fat Margarita tower, the cook Margarita was buried alive within its walls, preparing food for the soldiers so disgusting that the evil and hungry warriors guarding the city punished this lady so. And since the careless cook was also ugly fat, the tower later received its unusual name.
The impressed tourist involuntarily exclaimed: “I thought Tallinn was a kind, beautiful city, lovers walk the streets. And here they were either executed or walled up! But what is to be done? The Middle Ages, that says a lot.
In general, everything is not so scary in our city. And among the unknown legends, there was a story about a real great love associated with a beautiful house on Lai Street - this is "the house where happiness settled", as the "city healer" said.
Ghosts are different
There is a museum in Tallinn, whose employees remember the stories of the recent past, namely the times of the Soviet Union, about a policeman frightened by ghosts, about a ghost who helped arrange the exhibition. Not scary yet? But what about the ghost of the Matizen's printing yard on Vienna Street, or the silver snuffbox that fell out of the picture?
Tour of Tallinn "Unknown legends of the Old Town, ghosts of the past." & copy; SPUTNIK / SVETLANA BURTSEVA
Did you know that employees of the Swedish Embassy also encountered the legend of ghosts in their building? To pacify these troubled neighbors, it was necessary to study the history of the building, and only relatively recently was it possible to cope with strange phenomena. Also, real ghost catchers periodically come to Tallinn. Moreover, these narrow specialists bring with them special equipment for catching “not quite people”.
Train yourself an assistant
However, according to Travnitsa, some “not quite people” are useful not to be afraid, but to tame. The excursion participants learned that it is very good to have your own brownie. The herbalist told that brownies are surprisingly useful creatures with whom it is worth making friends so that they help in the implementation of the most simple and completely earthly desires. Want a new iPhone? You are welcome. Or maybe you liked an expensive piece of jewelry? And it's real. Ask your brownie for help.
But it's not that simple. According to Travnitsa, the brownie is not a stupid creature. At the first call, he will not appear and will not rush into the arms. But you can find an approach to it. As the Travnitsa assured, from time immemorial, brownies have always helped their home owners, and our ancestors knew how to perfectly negotiate with them about their welfare and protection.
Tips from a healer
And yet, Travnitsa finally said that at night and on dark evenings she prefers not to walk along the alleys of the Old City, so as not to disturb its secret inhabitants. “There are many ghosts in the city, so, my dears, be careful at night,” Herbalist warned.
Tour of Tallinn "Unknown legends of the Old Town, ghosts of the past." & copy; SPUTNIK / SVETLANA BURTSEVA
For the courage shown in the journey through the mysterious old streets of Tallinn, Travnitsa allowed the interested participants of the excursion to stroke the silver frog that adorned the healer's clothes and tickle the gray mice that stuck to the healer's canvas bag. This ritual is intended to give wealth and health.
The curtain
The guide Natalia Praunina, who played the role of the “city healer” perfectly, told Sputnik Estonia that the tour “Unknown Legends of the Old Town” started in December 2016 and is a success among the residents of Tallinn and its guests. Of course, such an emotional journey has an age limit, namely, it is designed for people at least 12 years old. For kids, the organizers of the excursions select other information about our city, dressing stories in a colorful, vivid performance.
According to Natalia, in winter, when it gets dark early, you have to take a flashlight with you on such a walk around the Old Town. And I must admit that if in the daytime the participants of the excursion walk boldly enough into the gateways and old courtyards, exchanging impressions along the way, asking questions, expressing the emotions they experience, then in the dark “the people no longer laugh, but walk in silence, as if not breathing” …
How many undiscovered secrets and unknown turns of history are kept by the walls of Old Tallinn …
Svetlana Burtseva
