MAY 22 - Sunny warm Sunday, everything really quiet in the town. We head to the beach, for which Pärnu has been famous since 1838. In that year, the first bathing facilities were opened, as Europe was just then realizing the attraction of going to the beach. The beach was essentially divided into male/female only zones until the early 1900’s.
We wandered into the above church and were invited to watch an ‘opera’ (sort of a play/opera combination), relating the life and times of Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-31). A quick bio: Elizabeth was born to King Andrew II of Hungary and his queen, Gertrude of Merania (this is not the only origin story, however, to be fair). She was betrothed at an early age to Ludwig IV of Thuringia (in central Germany), but was widowed by 1227 (he died in the sixth Crusade). During this time her ideas of charity were developing, and soon she was giving away many of her worldly goods to the poor. Eventually she founded a hospital specifically to help the underprivileged. Naturally there were elites who wanted her to tone it down, most notable of which was Inquisitor Konrad von Marburg. She became a favorite of the Franciscan Order, who she admired in turn. All of this came to an end when she died in 1231, at the age of 24. She was elevated to a saint in 1235, when 129 of her miracles were presented to the religious authorities.
The performance was all in Estonian of course, and the participants were obviously professionals, based on their singing ability. It was a really special event to see.
Go wandering around for a few hours after the opera.
