St. Catherine's Lutheran Church In Noarootsi

St. Catherine's Lutheran Church In Noarootsi / Описание

The late gothic church, from the 16th century, is unique with many details found nowhere else in Estonia. The brand new wooden roof of the choir and the vestry catches the attention of the visitor. This is one of the three churches in Estonia with a wooden board roof. An 18th century parsonage, now restored, stands next to the St. Catherine’s church.
A sacral building has stood on the site since the 13th or the 14th century. The hall of the church has small windows, assisting the fortification function of the church. The position of the burial chapel in front of the western portal is not seen elsewhere, and the stone dish for sacred water beside the south portal is also unique.
Three pairs of octagonal dolomite columns support the flat wooden ceiling of the church. The church has one nave, and the choir is separated from the hall by an arch de triumph. The southern side has a small vestibule, and the larger western vestibule is topped a the narrow tower. The present look dates back to the 1862-73 renovations when the walls of the church were built higher.
Woodcarving flourished during the Baroque period – one of the most noteworthy masters was Elert Thiele whose wooden pulpit is a gem in the interior of the St. Catherine’s Church. The altar room has two important stone carving masterpieces – a baptismal font (1528) and a dolomite baroque epitaph on the eastern wall of the choir.
The gallery in the western side of hall is probably from the 17th century and, as was typical, was shaped with an ax. Board roofs were traditional in the middle ages, but the one in Noarootsi was spectacular because of its dark red color. Most of the roofs were blackened with tar. These roofs were made from pine or spruce, and they could last for centuries.
The church yard is atmospheric with old annular crosses and monuments to the noblemen of the Noarootsi peninsula. Noarootsi was inhabited by a Swedish population from the 13th century onwards, but most of them fled back to Sweden during WWII.