Püha (Saaremaa)

Coordinates: 58 ° 18 '  N , 22 ° 43'  E

Püha​

Estonia

church

View of the interior

Püha (German Pyha ) is a village ( Estonian küla ) on the largest Estonian island Saaremaa . It belongs to the rural community Saaremaa (until 2017: rural community Pihtla ) in the Saare district .

Population and location

The village has 67 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2011). It is 16 kilometers northeast of the island's capital Kuressaare .

church

Today's Evangelical Lutheran St. Jakobi Church in Püha is one of the oldest churches on the island of Saaremaa. The choir was probably built at the end of the 13th century, the single nave and the vaults in the 14th century. The character of a fortified church can still be clearly seen today.

The original tower dates from around 1500. The spire was only created in 1924 according to plans by the architect and art historian Johannes Leopold Gahlnbäck (1855–1934).

During the Livonian War in 1576, Russian troops under Tsar Ivan in Püha massacred the Estonian civilian population. In the church they burned all residents who had sought refuge there. After the heavy destruction, the church was rebuilt.

The late Baroque altar wall is the work of the Kuressaare carpenter Gottfried Böhnke (or Böhme) from 1793. It is a slightly clumsy copy from the Riga Cathedral . The early classicist pulpit dates from 1793. The altar painting shows the Ascension of Christ; it probably comes from the local landlord Ludwig von Sass from 1904.

graveyard

The aristocrats built their burial chapels around the church since the 18th century . Most of the buildings only have the foundations left.

The Baltic German Peter Heinrich von Frey (1757–1833), who was pastor in Püha for almost fifty years, is buried in the Püha cemetery . The first Estonian-language textbook for arithmetic ( Arropiddamise ehk Arwamisse-Kunst ) comes from his pen . It was published in Tartu in 1806 .

literature

• Baltic historical local dictionary. Part 1: Estonia (including Northern Livonia) (= sources and studies on Baltic history. Volume 8/1). Started by Hans Feldmann . Published by Heinz von zur Mühlen . Edited by Gertrud Westermann . Böhlau, Cologne / Vienna 1985, ISBN 3-412-07183-8 , p. 475.

Web links

Commons : Church of Püha  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Description ( eestigiid.ee )
• St. Jakobi Church in Püha

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Estonian Statistical Office
2. ↑ Ivar Sakk: Eesti kirikud. Teejuht. Tallinn 2014, p. 348f.