St. John's Church (Cēsis)

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St. Johannis, Cēsis

The St. John's Church of Cēsis (Lat. Cēsu svētā Jāņa baznīca ) is an Evangelical Lutheran church in the brick Gothic style . The building is the most important medieval basilica in Latvia outside of Riga.

Location and history

Johann Christoph Brotze : Prospect of the S. Johannis Church in Wenden, 1793

The church is located in the city center between the old town and the New Castle and the ruins of the castle of the German Order .

An agreement between the Order Master Wilhelm von Nindorf and the Bishop of Riga on the construction of the church is mentioned in the Livonian Chronicle (Chronicon Livoniae) by Hermann von Wartberge . Historians place the foundation stone of the church in 1284.

At the beginning of the 16th century the church became Lutheran and a center of the Reformation . As a result of the Livonian War , the building suffered severe damage and was re-Catholicized and the seat of the diocese of Wenden . It was not until the 1920s that the Church became Lutheran again with the conquest of Livonia by Sweden in the Thirty Years' War . Until 1855 the service was held exclusively in German. Thereafter, the Latvian and German congregations shared the church until 1939.

Fires repeatedly destroyed parts of the building. The church, which was described as "very badly deteriorated" in 1613, was renewed again in the following years by the Catholic Church and its bishop Otto von Schenking . After a lightning strike in 1663, the church was on the verge of decay for about 100 years.

architecture

Side view of the church

The original basilica , built of dolomite and bricks , had neither a tower nor a raised central nave. As a result of alterations and additions, especially after the effects of war and fire, the appearance and interior design of the church changed several times over the centuries. The striking buttresses date from the 18th century. The neo-Gothic tower was built from 1853.

In and on the church there are numerous art-historically valuable detailed objects such as a medieval sundial , wall paintings, grave slabs, walled-in coats of arms and inscriptions, etc.

Tombs

Wolters von Plettenberg grave slab

During the time as the cathedral of the Livonian Order , the following were buried here:

Some ministers working in the church

literature

  • Gundars Kalniņš: Cēsu Svētā Jāņa Baznīca . Cēsis 2015.
  • Cēsu Sv. Jāņa Kristītāja baznīca . In: Andris Caune, Ieva Ose: Latvijas viduslaiku mūra baznīcas, 12th gs. gebas - 16th gs. sākums. Enciklopēdija . Latvijas vēstures institūta apgāds, Riga 2010, ISBN 978-9984-824-17-8 .
  • Vitolds Mašnovskis: Latvijas luterāņu Baznīcas , Vol. 1: A-G . Due, Riga 2005, ISBN 9984-19-829-4 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gundars Kalniņš: Cēsu Svētā Jāņa Baznīca . Cēsis 2015, p. 3.
  2. ↑ [1]
  3. ↑ Gundars Kalniņš: Cēsu Svētā Jāņa Baznīca . Cēsis 2015, p. 10.
  4. ↑ Gundars Kalniņš: Cēsu Svētā Jāņa Baznīca . Cēsis 2015, p. 3.
  5. ↑ Gundars Kalniņš: Cēsu Svētā Jāņa Baznīca . Cēsis 2015, p. 12.

Coordinates: 57 ° 18 ′ 44 ″  N , 25 ° 16 ′ 19 ″  E