Keila-Joa Schloss Fall Castle, Arvo Pärt Centre, Kumna Manor

We start our tour with visiting historic Neo-Gothic Estonian knight-castle Keila-Joa Schloss Fall Castle. After extensive renovation 2013 yhe Castle reopened its doors to guests. We will see a fascinating museum where many art exhibitions are displayed and beautiful castle halls where concerts and theatres are held. The museum’s permanent exhibition mainly consists of pieces introducing Keila-Joa Schloss Fall Castle history and its first owners: the Baltic German, Russian military officer and statesman, Count Konstantin Alexander Karl Wilhelm Christoph von Benckendorff (1781-1844), and Duke Grigory Petrovich Volkonsky, who was married to his daughter Maria. Next to this, there is a unique exhibition of the world anthems, which gives an excellent overview of the various national anthems, and their composers. The museum exhibits in the exhibition hall are continuously updated and they offer something to discover year-round. Guests have access to diverse, carefully thought-through exhibitions that reflect different cultures, eras, art forms and seasonal exhibitions.

Then we will move to the Arvo Pärts Centre and at forst will have a lunch in its Café.

Afret lunch we will have a guided tour in Arvo Pärt`s Centre. We will explore the Arvo Pärt Centre building and learn more about Arvo Pärt’s life and creative development. By walking together through the Centre’s unique building, we will see what kinds of documents the Arvo Pärt archives hold and what they can tell us about the composer’s work. The Centre offers a variety of opportunities to listen to the composer’s music and gain a deeper understanding and interpretation of his work. We will also watch a short documentary by Jaan Tootsen and Jaak Kilmi, Every Sound a Jewel (2018, 20 min), commissioned by the Centre. It provides an insight into Arvo Pärt’s life.

We will finish our tour with visiting magnificent little Kumna Manor. At the heart of Kumna manor, we will encounter an unusual combination: single-storey buildings with Russian-style carvings next to a festive palace with classicist white columns. the palace here hints at ​ceremonial Empire style: half columns decorated with Ionic capitals, laurel wreaths interlaced with ribbons on the roof gable, etc. The interiors are also remarkable.