Noarootsi

 

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.

 

Destinations

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.