The Polish Heritage Days started in Estonia with Polish violinist Alicja Pustuła and Estonian organist Olga Kulikova performing at the inauguration of the event at the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Tallinn. The church is one of the two Roman Catholic churches in the Estonian capital

Celebrating Poles breaking Enigma code – Polish Heritage Days to launch in May

“Polish-British cooperation on breaking the Enigma code, marking the 80th anniversary of Polish codebreakers coming to the United Kingdom,” is the…

see more

“This is a true expression of Polish-Estonian friendship. This concert is an important event for the parish and Polish community in Estonia, for which this church is like home,” said parish priest Tomasz Materna.

“Let today’s concert remind us that the modern world – as never before in this century – needs peace. Music brings this peace,” said the Polish ambassador in Tallinn, Grzegorz Kozłowski, who opened the event.

During the concert – in the Cathedral filled with Poles and Estonians – works by Krzysztof Penderecki, Grażyna Bacewicz, Karol Szymanowski, Georg Philipp Telemann, and Alessandro Marcell were performed.

The concert was one of many Polish-related events planned by the Polish Embassy as part of the Polish Heritage Days in Estonia, which will last until June 11. During this period, the history and culture of Poland will be promoted in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, but also in other cities – Tartu, Narva, and Haapsalu.

There are some 1,600 Poles living in Estonia. The majority of them are located in Tallinn and in the eastern province of Virumaa. According to a poll conducted in 2011 nearly 70 percent of them speak mainly Russian, while only 22 percent speak Polish.