Kihelkonna St. Michael's Church, () sometimes simply Kihelkonna Church, is a medieval Lutheran church on Saaremaa island in western Estonia.
History Construction
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.
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.
The church has an organ and a carved epitaph dating from 1650 which was completed by local carpenter, Balthasar Raschky.
The exterior of the church is dominated by the neo-Gothic tower. The church also has an external bell-tower, that was built 1638. Free-standing belfries were once quite common in Estonia, however the one at Kihelkonna church is the only one still surviving.
Images
See also Architecture of Estonia
References
External links