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Jesus in a Garden: The Forgotten Cross in Tallinn’s Kitseküla Subdistrict

(A story from the series “Off the Beaten Track: Hidden Places of Estonia”)

Hidden behind a wall, past a tram stop and a gas station, stands Tallinn’s oldest surviving monument—a medieval crucifix that has witnessed many eras of violence and upheaval.

Leaning into the sky—a medieval cross stands beneath bare branches and the shadow of a blackened wall. Photo: Jerry Mercury
Leaning into the sky—a medieval cross stands beneath bare branches and the shadow of a blackened wall. Photo: Jerry Mercury

Are there monuments in your city that seem to hide in plain sight—so quietly tucked away that even locals don’t know they exist?

When I arrived in Tallinn as a migrant, I began walking the city with eyes open to the unnoticed. One day in the summer of 2023, I found something that even an acquaintance of mine who was born and raised in the city had never seen. So I decided to show it to her, to surprise her.

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