St Catherine’s Lutheran Church in Muhu

Visited May 21, 2012

We finally made our way off of Saaremaa and onto Muhu, the island next to Saaremaa. They are connected by a causeway and you drive through Muhu from the ferry to get to Saaremaa, so some people are unaware it is a separate island.

St Catherine’s Lutheran Church in Muhu was also built in the 13th century. Unfortunately, it was locked, so I only got exterior pictures.

St Catherine’s Lutheran Church in Karja, Saaremaa

Visited May 21, 2012

I was particularly excited to visit St Catherine’s Lutheran Church in Karja because it is another of the really old churches known for the pagan symbols painted inside. It was built in the 13th century.

St Nicholas’ Lutheran Church in Kirbla, Saaremaa

Visited May 21, 2012

St Nicholas’ Lutheran Church in Kirbla was built around 1500. Unfortunately, the church was locked, so I only got a few pictures of the outside.

St Martin’s Lutheran Church in Valjala

Visited May 21, 2012

The Estonian Wayfarers Church guide says that St Martin’s Lutheran Church in Valjala is the oldest medieval country church in Estonia, though archaeologists working at the church in Pöide said they believe that church to be the oldest. I've visited that church, so there will be an entry on it later.

Whether this is the oldest church or not (lots of them were built in the 13th century, so it is hard to tell), it is certainly a beautiful one.

What The Churches Conceal

If you came here looking for some sort of church scandal, these are not the droids you are looking for.

I just wanted to call your attention to an article by that title in Delfi (and in Estonian, sorry about that) on the medieval paintings concealed by years of plaster and such in the old church walls. The work theses folks from the Estonian National Heritage Board and the Estonian Academy of Arts, Heritage and Restoration Department are doing is on a church in Kadrina, but this is the same kind of work I got to see at the church at Pöide on Saaremaa.

Very cool stuff...I need to meet these folks!

Mida peidavad endas kirikud?



Kadrina kirik vanal postkaardil. Foto: vesipapp



St Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Church in Levala, Saaremaa

Visited May 21, 2012

I probably shouldn't include St Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Church, since it was built in 1927. It is actually the newest Orthodox church on the island.

But it is such a tiny church off the beaten path, I decided to leave it in anyway. This is the only photo I took because the church was locked.

Orthodox Church of St Nikolay in Kuressaare, Saaremaa

Visited May 21, 2012 and August 4, 2012

Walking around Kuressaare during our stay there, we spotted this church, St Nikolay Orthodox Church. Well, I say spotted...it isn't like you can miss it! But during our visit, it was undergoing repairs to the roof, so I got a lot of pictures featuring an ugly blue tarp.

When I went back for one of my Regional Outreach trips, I was able to get some better pictures of the church, which was built in 1790.

St Michael’s Lutheran Church in Kihelkonna, Saaremaa

Visited May 20, 2012

One of the cool things about Saaremaa is the sheer number of really old churches there. St Michael’s Lutheran Church in Kihelkonna was one of the many churches I subjected my wife to over the course of the long weekend, and it too was built in the 13th century. It has a pulpit, seen to the left in the picture of the altar below, that was built in 1604 that is the oldest in Saaremaa.

Visited again February 27, 2013

I took a few more shots of the church during my regional outreach trip, and thought I'd share some.



St. Peter and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Kaarma, Saaremaa

Visited May 20, 2012 and August 4, 2012

Although I photographed quite a few churches before this one, this is the church that started it all, the church that started my project.

St. Peter and St. Paul Lutheran Church in Kaarma, Saaremaa.

I picked this church because it is one of the oldest churches in Estonia, built in the 13th century, and has on it what is likely the oldest example of written Estonian, from 1407.

I've visited the church twice...because I was interested in the pagan symbols that are in some of earliest Estonian churches, and I TOTALLY MISSED the ginourmous pentacle on the wall by the pulpit in the church.

Even without the pentacle though, which is pretty darned awesome, the church is really incredible. So I wanted to share some other shots with you.