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Description
The Pühalepa church is both the oldest sacral building and the oldest preserved building on the island of Hiiumaa. The granite church was first erected as a fortification church by the Livonian order and has been rebuilt considerably. The church houses the only stone pulpit of Estonia, decorated with Baroque sculptures and built in 1636 by the stone carver Joachim Winter. In 1863 the church was built higher and wider giving it the appearance we see today. The interior was vaulted, and windows were added to make the church airier. The tower was built higher as well; the helmet of the tower is from 1874. During the Soviet times the fate of the church was unfortunate, it was converted into a storage house in 1951. Later it stood empty and abandoned for years. The church was restored in 1993.
A small mausoleum next to the church contains the tomb of Ebba-Margerethe Stenbock (1704-76). She was a prominent landowner on the island during the 18th century. Her grandfather once owned the whole island of Hiiumaa.
Pühalepa is one of the oldest settlement areas of Hiiumaa, and the church the is oldest on the island. The Livonian Order built the fortification church around the 1270s. The first building was very plain with a single nave and no vestry or tower. The hall ended with a choir room. Protective hiding places were constructed above the vaults of the church. The building was destroyed in the 1575 Livonian War.
When the church was restored, in the early 17th century, it was lower than before and only the choir was vaulted. In addition to the wide western portal, a small portal was added to the southern side of the hall. The bell tower was built some decades later.
Thorough reconstruction took place from 1860-63. The main aim was to make the church spacious. The choir and hall were covered with a single roof; both the walls and the tower were built higher. The northern wall that had no windows at all got a new row of windows. A high sharp pointed, Pseudo Gothic, window decorated the eastern side of the church and let light into the choir.
There are two annular crosses in the churchyard, the only ones of this type on the island. |
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