Estonian Review
St. John's Church of Tartu, Estonia has advanced into the final round of the Six Baltic Sea Wonders contest as one of 16 nominees. The six wonders of the Baltic Sea region are being selected by a public vote that lasts till the end of September, the Tartu city government said. The other finalists from Estonia are the song festivals and the Old Town of Tallinn.

Votes can be cast at www.6-bsr-wonders.net until 30 September. Each voter can select up to six candidates.

The manager of the St. John's foundation, Juhan Jaeger, said the church's reaching the final round is significant. "By scale, we may appear small compared to other candidates, but in terms of cultural heritage the unique terracotta sculpture deriving from the 14th century outweigh the outward size," he said.

The Estonian nominees included the Tallinn Old Town, song festivals, St. John's Church, Soomaa national park, Kaali meteorite crater on the island of Saaremaa, lighthouses of the island of Hiiumaa, Narva fortress, island of Kihnu, and Kuressaare castle, of which six advanced to the semifinal and three to the final.

There were in all 65 candidates selected by an expert panel in the contest. The winners will be announced in November.

The contest is part of the European Union project Agora 2.0 - Heritage Tourism for Increased Baltic Sea Region Identity.