The familiar attitude of Europeans to cemeteries has long been known: either a park will be laid out among the graves, or even a casino will be built among the gravestones. But, either the Estonians have a different mentality, or our common past has left an imprint on the attitude towards burials - the cemeteries here remain cemeteries. To go here, you need to tune in to the appropriate wave, because Metsakalmistu (Forest Cemetery) is still first of all a functioning cemetery, and secondly - a "tourist site". Both ordinary people and well-known Estonian politicians, cultural and art figures, athletes, etc. are buried on Metskalmistu. Each site with the burial of celebrities is marked with a special column with an inscription in Estonian indicating their professional affiliation. The center of the cemetery is a small chapel where farewell to the dead takes place.
The cemetery administration strictly monitors the design of tombstones, it is forbidden to place crosses and large monuments here, and the size of tombstones is strictly regulated; however, I saw a couple of tombstones that violate this rule. But this is a very rare exception. In general, the result is this: it's just a cemetery, and coming here for the purpose of "entertainment" is not only useless, but even blasphemous. We used to come to Metskalmistu to put a rose on the grave of the world-famous Estonian baritone Georg Ots, and in November 2014 our second rose lay on the freshly dug grave of another Estonian singer, Jaak Joala...Tip: do not come here during heavy snowfalls, low tombstones will be visible because of the snow, and you will not see anything but a snowy forest. In order not to wander around the cemetery for hours in search of the desired burial place, it is better to find it in advance on the Metsakalmistu map using the Estonian burial site: http://www. Kalmistud.
ee/Metsa-info-2 The Tallinn Forest Cemetery is open to the public free of charge, 24 hours a day, all year round. You can get here from the center by buses 34A and 38, go to the stop "Metsakalmistu". The road from the center to the cemetery will take about 20 minutes.
The cemetery administration strictly monitors the design of tombstones, it is forbidden to place crosses and large monuments here, and the size of tombstones is strictly regulated; however, I saw a couple of tombstones that violate this rule. But this is a very rare exception. In general, the result is this: it's just a cemetery, and coming here for the purpose of "entertainment" is not only useless, but even blasphemous. We used to come to Metskalmistu to put a rose on the grave of the world-famous Estonian baritone Georg Ots, and in November 2014 our second rose lay on the freshly dug grave of another Estonian singer, Jaak Joala...Tip: do not come here during heavy snowfalls, low tombstones will be visible because of the snow, and you will not see anything but a snowy forest. In order not to wander around the cemetery for hours in search of the desired burial place, it is better to find it in advance on the Metsakalmistu map using the Estonian burial site: http://www. Kalmistud.
ee/Metsa-info-2 The Tallinn Forest Cemetery is open to the public free of charge, 24 hours a day, all year round. You can get here from the center by buses 34A and 38, go to the stop "Metsakalmistu". The road from the center to the cemetery will take about 20 minutes.
Translated automatically from Russian. View original
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