Vormsi Church

Vormsi, Estonia

According the legend the church of St. Olav in Vormsi was originally built in 1219 in the guidance of Valdemar II, the King of Denmark. Although, the oldest parts of the church has been dated to the year 1400 (approximately). It has been renovated and reconstructed several times, at least in 1632, 1772 and 1929. The St. Olav’s church is unique for the fact that it has no belfry; the bell hangs above the door under the high ridge.

In the churchyard you can see several old tombs of the Swedish inhabitants, who lived in the Vormsi island until World War II. A bit furthrer is an old graveyard with the largest collection of wheel crosses in Estonia. The oldest cross dates back to 1743, the freshest one to 1923. All crosses are handmade by the peasants. Many of the wheel crosses bear clear writings but many of the crosses are of primitive treatment and have many grammatical errors. The crosses often bear the village names, sometimes also farm names, but almost always family marks. The wheel crosses often bear several dates which all show dates of death. Death dates were probably marked on an old family cross when the wooden cross on the grave decomposed. In 1977, Ministry of Arts started the inventory of wheel crosses.

References:
  • Vormsi.ee
  • Tapio Mäkeläinen 2005. Viro - kartanoiden, kirkkojen ja kukkaketojen maa. Tammi, Helsinki, Finland

Comments

Your name



Address

Hullo küla, Vormsi, Estonia
See all sites in Vormsi

Details

Founded: ca. 1400
Category: Religious sites in Estonia
Historical period: Danish and Livonian Order (Estonia)

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Maris Binde (2 years ago)
Kadi Hüdsi (3 years ago)
Signe Kumar (4 years ago)
With a stone altar!
üllar pruunlep (4 years ago)
Church as a church ;)
Harri Kaert (5 years ago)
Powered by Google

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Historic Site of the week

Dryburgh Abbey

Dryburgh Abbey on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders was founded in 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. The arrival of the canons along with their first abbot, Roger, took place in 1152.

It was burned by English troops in 1322, after which it was restored only to be again burned by Richard II in 1385, but it flourished in the fifteenth century. It was finally destroyed in 1544, briefly surviving until the Scottish Reformation, when it was given to the Earl of Mar by James VI of Scotland. It is now a designated scheduled monument and the surrounding landscape is included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan bought the land in 1786. Sir Walter Scott and Douglas Haig are buried in its grounds.