St. John's Church (Riga)
The St. John's Church ( Latvian Rīgas Svētā Jāņa baznīca ) is an Evangelical Lutheran church in the Latvian capital Riga . It belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia .
location
It is located in Riga's old town on the north side of Scharrenstrasse ( Skārņu iela ) on the corner of Johannisstrasse ( Jāņa iela ) at Scharrenstrasse 24.
Equipment and history
The Johanniskirche is the oldest church in Riga and from 1234 it belonged as a chapel to the neighboring Dominican monastery. The first documentary mention as a church is from 1297. At the end of the 15th century, the church was destroyed in fighting between the Teutonic Order and the city of Riga.
In the period around 1500 the church was rebuilt in its present form. In 1520 it received its reticulated vault . On its northwest side there is a striking late Gothic stepped gable . The gable is divided by profiled pillars made of brick into ten blind niches of different heights, closed at the top by keel arches . The stone masks with open mouths on the outside wall of the church are remarkable. Monks preached through them, whose voices echoed through Riga like a loudspeaker.
In the course of the Reformation in 1523, the Riga City Council withdrew the church from the Dominicans and then rented it out for profane purposes and then used it as an armory . In 1582 it was handed over to the Latvian Lutheran parish. As early as 1587 to 1589, a three-aisled choir in the Renaissance style was added to the east to create the space required . It is spanned by nine simple cross vaults resting on four Tuscan columns. In its history, the church was damaged several times, for example in a fire in 1677. It was rebuilt in 1679/80. The collapsed brick vault of the choir was rebuilt from wood and plastered.
On March 22, 1690, the German-Baltic theologian, poet and linguist Liborius Depkin became pastor at St. John's Church.
The slender roof turret that sits enthroned on the south-eastern end of the roof was built in 1849, according to other sources, in 1853; according to plans by Johann Daniel Felsko . In 1927 the church was restored.
Inside the church, the panel painting The Crucified by Janis Rozentāls in the sacristy is remarkable. The single-nave church interior , which is known for its good acoustics, is spanned by a star vault. There are four yokes twelve meters wide and up to 19 meters high with a late Gothic network.
At the eastern end of the choir there is an altar niche closed off on three sides in the middle nave.
The servant of the Johanniskirche lived at the address Johannishof ( Jāņa sēta ) 6. Since October 29, 1998 it is registered under the number 6567 in the Latvian register of monuments.
Legend
According to a legend, two monks are said to have had themselves walled into the church wall in the 15th century to be canonized. Through a hole in the wall, the monks were provided with food by the Rigans until their death. A canonization , however, did not take place after her death. The remains are said to still be in the church wall. The place on the wall is marked by a cross-shaped opening.
literature
- Christiane Bauermeister: Riga . Gräfe and Unzer Verlag, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-8342-2448-4 , p. 63 f.
- Karl Woldemar von Löwis of Menar , Riga , Verlag von Joneck & Poliewsky, Riga 1918, p. 23 f.
- Guide through Latvia, WF Häcker printing works, Riga 1929, p. 41 f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Christiane Bauermeister: Riga . Gräfe and Unzer Verlag, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-8342-2448-4 , p. 64
- ^ Karl Woldemar von Löwis of Menar, Riga , Verlag von Joneck & Poliewsky, Riga 1918, p. 23
- ↑ Riga St John's Church on www.liveriga.com
Coordinates: 56 ° 56 ′ 51.6 ″ N , 24 ° 6 ′ 38.6 ″ E