Muhu St. Catherine's Church

58.60388888888923.225Koordinaten: 58 ° 36 ' 14 " N, 23 ° 13' 30" E

The St. Catherine's Church, the Evangelical- Lutheran parish church without tower to Muhu in Estonia ( also village church Liiva called ).

The early Gothic St. Catherine's Church belongs to the local group of Saare - Western churches. When her patron Saint Catherine of Alexandria is valid. The church on the 200 km ² island of Muhu is mentioned for the first time in 1267 in the chronicles of Hermann von Wartberge ( 1330-1380 ). The churches of Karja, Muhu and Pöide, you look in the architectural history of Estonia as a group which represents the heyday of the Gothic style in architecture of Saaremaa.

The building is considered one of the most architecturally and stilstrengsten country churches of the Estonian Middle Ages. The high outer walls create the roof of a building with slender proportions. At the single-aisled nave joins the east a much narrower and lower choir, and to this a small, opposite the choir lower rectangular choir conclusion. This staging of the building bring an architectural rhythm in the building mass. When tracery windows of the church, a context with the Gothic cathedrals of Western Europe reveals. The present appearance of the church again corresponds approximately to the original.

The two high, dome-shaped, decorated with Wulstrippen Domikalgewölbe well as the simple cross vault in the choir give the interior of the nave nave a special character. In the clean -cut stone decorative figures and planting ornaments that on Saaremaa are characteristic for the about the same time built churches Karja and Pöide, almost completely absent.

The most interesting part of the interior are the mainly preserved in the choir fragments of the mural, which is dated to the end of the 13th century. The models of the paintings in the church of Muhu you look on Gotland, where at that time coming from the stained glass strong outlines and Byzantine influences were characteristic. The plastered over after the Reformation paintings were rediscovered in 1913. The oldest, executed in fresco painting is the art of the west wall. The round window is located there may have been introduced only after the completion of the church. The paintings executed in secco are connected with the life of Christ. On the walls of the sanctuary are 12 prophets, who represented the 12 apostles and angels. Preserves remained only the fragments of images of the apostles and angels. On the north wall of the presbytery you can find the pictures of Peter and John the Baptist.

The pulpit in the Renaissance style is one of the oldest in the country and was built by Balthasar Raschky in 1627. The altar painting is from a former altar. The neo-classical altar was completed in 1827 by Exception Lorentzen.

Attention deserve the ligand located in the church and in the churchyard grave trapezoidal plates with pagan symbols, which can otherwise only known from the medieval churches and church gardens on Saaremaa and in Läänemaa ( Westland ). Of particular interest is the leader of the west wall of the tower lying in the doorway grave plate. It is one of two preserved in Estonia grave slabs from the 12th - 13th Century, representing human figures. The most recent grave plate is on the wall near the main entrance. Your text reads: " Here, John has placed from Gotland to rest, pray for him," which could indicate the creator of the murals.

Destroyed in 1941, the roof was replaced in 1958. In the empty church, the congregation returned in 1989. Started in 1993 with funding of the Diocese of Växjö (Sweden), the renovations to their connection, the church was re-consecrated on 22 May 1994. 2005 counted 100 members to the community.