Kihelkonna St. Michael's Church

Kihelkonna St. Michael's Church, (Estonian: Kihelkonna Mihkli kirik) sometimes simply Kihelkonna Church, is a medieval Lutheran church on Saaremaa island in western Estonia.

Kihelkonna St. Michael's Church
Kihelkonna St. Michael's Church
58°21′36″N 22°02′08″E
CountryEstonia
DenominationLutheran
History
Foundedc. 1250 (c. 1250)
Founder(s)Livonian Order
Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek
Architecture
StyleGothic

History

The church was founded sometime around 1250 as a joint undertaking by both the Livonian Order and the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek as a part of crusader efforts to Christianise Estonia. The church was built at a strategic location, by a harbour of some importance and at a road connecting western Saaremaa with the rest of Estonia. Originally, the church was designed to have a western tower but after a rebellion in 1260-1261, at which time the church was still unfinished, the plans were scrapped. The present-day tower only dates from 1899. Apart from the tower, the building of the church finished sometime in the later 1260s.[1][2]

Architecture

Of the original medieval furnishing, very little remains. The interior is dominated by high, white-washed vaults. The altarpiece dates from 1591, and depicts the last supper. In addition, the church has a fine organ and a carved epitaph dating from 1650 by a local carpenter, Balthasar Raschky.[2]

The exterior of the church is today dominated by the neo-Gothic tower, but the church also has an external bell-tower, dating from 1638. Such free-standing belfries were once quite popular in Estonia, but today the one at Kihelkonna church is the only one surviving.[1][2]

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gollark: Er, Investigatory Powers *Act*.
gollark: And finally (not finally, but I can't think of more right now) the Investigatory Powers Bill.
gollark: Also, the (postponed until the end of time right now, IIRC) adult content age verification thing.
gollark: They're also at the forefront of the "eNcRyPtIoN bAd" insanity.

See also

References
  1. Viirand, Tiiu (2004). Estonia. Cultural Tourism. Kunst Publishers. pp. 174–175. ISBN 9949407184.
  2. "Kihelkonna Church". Saaremaa Museum. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
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