14D BALTICS PILGRIMAGE Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland & Germany
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14D BALTICS PILGRIMAGE Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland & Germany Tallinn-Riga- Vilnius - Białystok – Warsaw - Krakow – Wadowice – Wieliczka – Czestochowa – Oswiecim – Katowice – Wroclaw – Berlin Itinerary:- with Daily Mass DAY 1 : KUALA LUMPUR – TALLINN ESTONIA • Borneo Pilgrims –Depart KKIA to KLIA and meet main group at Turkish Airline Check in counter. • KL Pilgrims - Assemble3 hours before at Turkish Airline check in counter. • Flight departure at 11.05pm. (Transit at Istanbul, 3hrs 10mins) DAY 2 : TALLINN (L/D) Arrive Talinn at 11.30am and proceed for immigration clearance. After lunch, visit St Peter and St Paul Cathedral. Mass at Church. Lunch. Check in to the hotel. Dinner and stay overnight in Tallinn. DAY 3 : TALLINN - RIGA (B/L/D) Breakfast and check out. Mass and sightseeing tour :- Medieval Old Town, KGB Headquaters, Tallinn University, St. Olaf’s Cathedral, Viru Gate, Town Hall and Toompea Castle † Medieval Old Town– The origins of Tallinn date back to the 13th century, when a castle was built there by the crusading knights of the Teutonic Order. It developed as a major centre of the Hanseatic League, and its wealth is demonstrated by the opulence of the public buildings (the churches in particular) and the domestic architecture of the merchants' houses, which have survived to a remarkable degree despite the ravages of fire and war in the intervening centuries. † St Olaf's Church – in Tallinn, the city's biggest medieval structure, took its name from the sainted Norwegian king Olav II Haraldsson. The church was first mentioned in 1267. It became one of the main churches in the Lower Town and formed its own congregation, which at first mostly comprised Scandinavian merchants and craftsmen and few Estonians. The evangelical preachings of the then chaplain of the church, Zacharias Hasse, led to the start of the reformation in Tallinn in 1523. † The barbican of Viru Gate – was part of the defence system of Tallinn city wall built in the 14th century. A couple of centuries later, it already had 8 gates that consisted of several towers and curtain walls connecting them. The main tower of a gate was always square and the barbicans were equipped with one or two small round towers. As the entrances to the Old Town were widened, several gates were demolished. The Viru Gate had to pay its dues to a horse-drawn tram route that connected the Old Market with Kadriorg. However, the corner towers were preserved; also, you can still see a part of the bastion that is called Musumägi. Viru Street with its many shops and restaurants has become one of the busiest pedestrian streets in the Old Town. † Toompea Castle – was erected on the foundations of the crumbling eastern wing of the fortress built on this site in the 13th and 14th centuries. The castle with its late Baroque façade was built between 1767 and 1773. The history of Toompea is the story of the rulers and conquerors of Estonia, each of whom moulded and reinforced the place to their own needs and according to their own taste. Today the castle is home to the Riigikogu (the Estonian parliament). The blue, black and white of the national flag can be seen flying on top of the 45.6-metre Tall Hermann tower as the symbol of Estonia's independence. Visit to Toomkirik Dome Church. Mass at Church. Visit Open Air Museum (UNESCO listed) † The Estonian Open Air Museum – is a life-sized reconstruction of an 18th-century rural/fishing village, which comes complete with church, inn, schoolhouse, several mills, a fire station, twelve farmyards and net sheds. The site spans 72 hectares of land and contains about 80 separate buildings and is located 8 km to the west of Tallinn city center at Rocca al Mare. Established in 1957, the museum showcases 68 farmhouses assembled into twelve farmyards from North, South and West Estonia. Along with the farmyards, old public buildings are arranged singularly and in groups in a way that represents an overview of Estonian vernacular architecture of the past two centuries. Lunch Drive to Riga, Latvia (Approx 4hrs 30mins) Dinner and stay overnight at Riga DAY 4 : RIGA – VILNIUS (B/L/D) Breakfast at Hotel. Check out and visit Dom Cathedral (Riga Cathedral) and St. Jacob Catholic Catheral and St John. † Dom Cathedral – The church was built near the River Daugava in 1211 by Livonian Bishop Albert of Riga, who came from Lower Saxony in northwestern Germany. It is considered the largest medieval church in the Baltic states. It has undergone many modifications in the course of its history. David Caspari was rector of the cathedral school in the late 17th century. His son Georg Caspari also served at the cathedral. Religious services were prohibited during the Soviet occupation from 1939 to 1989, and the cathedral was used as a concert hall.In 2011 the copper roofing above the nave was replaced. In 2015 the tower exterior was also re- plated and its wooden support structure renewed. † St. Jacob Catholic Cathedral – The church building was dedicated in 1225. It was not originally a cathedral since the Rīgas Doms served that function. At the beginning of the 15th century the Holy Cross Chapel was built at the south end of the early Gothic church, and part of the church was transformed into a basilica. † Cēsis St. John’s Church – is the largest medieval basilica outside Riga. Church is 65 m long and 32 m wide three sphere basilica, in the western part it is being introduced by the massive 65 m high bell- tower with 15 m high Gothic spire. There are 1000 seats provided in the church. A range of interesting historical and art monuments have remained intact in the church up to the modern days and majority of them have been included in the list of State protected cultural heritage monuments. Already from the first half of the 19th century church have attracted attention as a historical and architectural monument. Nowadays world renowned chorus and organ music virtuous perform there. Church has become a home for the International new organ player’s festival. Also painters value the church; different art exhibitions take place there. The Blue hill that is at a distance of 40 km from the church can be seen from the church tower. Doorstep of the church is located exactly 100 meters above the sea level. Mass at Church. After lunch transfer from Riga to Vilnius (Approx. 4h15m) Dinner and stay overnight at Vilnius. DAY 5 : VILNIUS (B/L/D) Breakfast at Hotel Full day sightseeing tour. Visit to Gate of Dawn, Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit † Gate of Dawn – It was built between 1503 and 1522 as a part of defensive fortifications for the city of Vilnius, the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It has also been known as the Medininkai Gate, as it led to the village Medininkai south of Vilnius as well as Aštra broma, which derivative for the Lithuanian language word aštra meaning sharp. Of ten city gates, only the Gate of Dawn remains, while the others were destroyed by the order of the government at the end of the 18th century. † Orthodox Chuch of Holy Spirit – the site of the present church used to be occupied by a wooden church, following the form a Latin cross, erected in 1638, when Vilnius was part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and was known as Wilno. Associated with the church was a convent, opened in 1567. After a fire gutted the wooden church in the 18th century, a stone church was erected in 1749–1753 in the Baroque style, with details of the interior in Roccoco style. It was designed by Johann Christoph Glaubitz, an architect of German descent who was noted for developing a Lithuanian school of Baroque architecture, known as Vilnian Baroque. Entrance to Divine Mercy Shrine † The Church of the Divine Mercy Sanctuary or the Holy Trinity Church in Vilnius, also called "God's Mercy Sanctuary" – is a Roman Catholic shrine dedicated to the Divine Mercy devotion, originated by Saint Faustina Kowalska. On the site of the present church (Dominikonų St. 12) a Gothic single-nave church was built in the 15th century and named Holy Trinity Church. It was reconstructed after the 1748 and 1749 fires: a new presbytery and two towers were built on, and in a place of a Gothic apse a new portal was erected. The church belonged to the university; one of its deans was the university rector, Jesuit astronomer Martynas Počobutas. The tsarist authorities converted it into a Russian Orthodox church in 1821, but in 1920 it was returned to the Catholics. In Soviet times the church was abandoned. On Divine Mercy Sunday, 18 April 2004 under the care of Audrys Juozas Cardinal Bačkis, the church was restored, blessed, and given the title Shrine of Divine Mercy. The church was adapted for the display of the original image of Divine Mercy, painted according to the vision of Saint Faustina Kowalska by artist Eugeniusz Kazimirowski in 1934. The Shrine is also decorated with two sgraffiti made by Nijolė Vilutytė: the Holy Mother of Mercy of the Gates of Dawn and the prayer “Jesus, I trust in you” in eleven languages. Lunch Visit St. Anne Church Mass at Church. Visit the Vilnius Cathedral (UNESCO listed), and St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Church † Vilnius Cathedral – is among the most beautiful cathedrals in the world. It is a classical masterpiece of the capital city of Lithuania. Although during the long course of history Vilnius Cathedral was repeatedly destroyed and burned, until now it proudly stands in the very heart of Vilnius Old Town, at the Gediminas hill slope, and is the most important Catholic shrine all over the country, and a place for the main Christian, ethnic and national festivities.