Noarootsi parish (Estonian: Noarootsi vald, Swedish: Nuckö
kommun) was a rural municipality in Lääne County, western Estonia
between 1991 and 2017. It covered an area of 296 km2 (114 sq mi)
and had a population of 910.
The administrative center of the
Noarootsi parish was the village of Pyurksi (Birkas in Swedish). It
is located 10 km north of the capital of Lääne County, Haapsalu.
Noarootsi was historically the only parish on the Estonian
mainland where most of the locals spoke Swedish. In 1934, the parish
had 4,388 inhabitants, of whom 2,697 (64%) were Estonian Swedes.
Noarootsi Church
Noarootsi St. Catherine's Church; also
Noarootsi Church is a church belonging to the Estonian Evangelical
Lutheran Church in the village of Hosbi in the Western Nigula
parish. The church is used by the Catholic Church of St. Catherine
of Noaroots in the EELC. The church probably existed as early as the
13-14 centuries. century, but the first church teachers and church
activities in Noarootsi are mentioned in a letter in the 16th
century, when the Noarootsky parish center of St. Catherine
Noarootsi is mentioned as the center.
The Noarootsi Church
suffered greatly during the Livonian War. It was restored in the
17th century and the bell tower dates back to that time. In the 18th
century, a funeral chapel was built as an exceptional addition to
the foot of the tower. The church had three chapels, built in the
17th century as the congregation grew stronger - Sutlepa Chapel,
Rooslepa Chapel and Osmussaare Chapel.
The chair was made by
Elert Thiele in 1656. Other attractions include the altar plateau of
the baptism (1528), the figurative Baroque epitaph of Ungru on the
eastern choir wall (1630, Joachim Winter, sculptor working in
Haapsalu) and a wooden balcony, probably from the 17th century,
carved with an ax.
In the churchyard surrounding the church,
there are interesting old ring crosses and tombs of the landowners
Noarootsi. There is also a monument to the Noarootsi War of
Independence, erected in 1935, destroyed under Soviet rule and
rebuilt in 1990.
Rooslep Chapel
Rooslepa Chapel is a
chapel in Rooslepa village in Läänemaa, Läänemaa. Rooslepa cemetery
is located next to the chapel. The stone chapel was completed in
1834 and collapsed after World War II. Before the construction of
the stone chapel, there was a 17th century wooden chapel, which was
moved to the Sutlepa cemetery and in 1970 to the Estonian Open Air
Museum. In 1997, money was raised for the restoration of the chapel,
and the restored chapel was consecrated in 2007. Regular services
are held once a month, mainly on the 4th Sunday of the month,
starting at 16:00. For more information, please call 5218467.
Sutlep Chapel
Sutlep Chapel is a 17th century coastal
Swedish chapel that has been in the Estonian Open Air Museum since
1970. The chapel was re-consecrated in 1989 and currently serves as
an auxiliary church for the community of St. John in Tallinn. In
1996, a bell tower was built near the main gate of the Sutlepa
cemetery, where the chapel used to be.
Sutlepa Chapel is one
of the oldest wooden buildings in Estonia. The chapel was built in
the Noarootsi parish in Sutlepa village as an auxiliary church for
the parish church. The date of construction is not precisely
determined, but archival records mention the chapel as early as
1627. However, the date "1699" carved above the church door probably
marks the time of the building's construction, which has survived to
this day.
It is known that in 1825 there were eight services
in the chapel, and there may have been baptisms, weddings and
funerals as well. The services were conducted in Estonian and
Swedish.
In the 1830s, the chapel was rebuilt (according to
various sources, in 1834 or 1837 on the doorstep) - the chapel was
dismantled and rebuilt using logs from the nearby Rooslep chapel.
Interior
The interior of the building, which reflects the
first half of the 19th century, is skillfully combined with elements
of the Baroque style. In 1837, the village master Johannes Klingberg
created a pulpit that imitates the work of Tobias Heinz (1589-1635),
a master of the Tallinn Baroque period. The objects also date from
the altar table and grate (1810) and the octagonal base of the
baptistery (1802). The image of Christ hanging over the altar was
transferred to the chapel by the landowner K. von Taube in 1831.
There is a fundraising box next to the door where donation can be
placed inside and outside the building. The close proximity to the
sea is reminiscent of the pewter wreaths hanging on the walls in
memory of the people who stayed there.
The chapel
accommodated about 150 people and traditionally sat on the right and
the women on the left. On both sides of the altar, there are also
so-called German benches, where wealthier and more respectable
families sat.
Osmussaare chapel
In 2014, the chapel, together with the
Osmussaare cemetery, was declared a cultural monument. The first
wooden chapel was probably built in the 16th century in the former
harbor. Since the surface of Osmussaar rises by about 3 mm per year,
the chapel is today located one and a half kilometers north of the
harbor. On September 3, 1766, a limestone chapel was inaugurated,
built on the same site. A statue of Martin Luther reading the Bible,
which was destroyed by a British ship near Osmussaar in 1852, was
erected at the gate of the Cable Fence.
Seven families lived
on a wooden board on the wall of a chapel on the island, who were
forced to leave the island on June 12, 1940 to make way for the Red
Army. The wooden board has now been replaced with a metal plate.
During the Second World War, the chapel was badly damaged.
Therefore, only the facade with the chapel tower has survived. In
1994, the former Osmar built a new bell tower near the chapel.