Kolila is a village in Haapsalu municipality,

Lääne County Lääne County ( et, Lääne maakond or ''Läänemaa'', literally "Western land"; german: Wiek; la, Rotalia) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in western Estonia and borders the Baltic Sea to the north, Harju County to the north-ea ...

, in western

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. Prior to the 2017 administrative reform of local governments, it was located in

Ridala Parish Ridala ( et, Ridala vald) was a rural municipality of Estonia, in Lääne County. It had a population of 3,245 (2016) and an area of . In 2007 it was merged with the city of Haapsalu to establish the Haapsalu urban municipality. Part of the p ...

Ridala Church

Ridala Church in Kolila village is considered one of the most interesting churches in

, Estonia. It dates from the second half of the 13th century, with the tower added around 1500. In the 18th century, one of the vaults collapsed and a heavy buttress added on the western wall, to compensate the weight distribution. The church still retains its archaic, medieval atmosphere. The main west portal is finely sculpted and decorated with a sculpture of

St. Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resurre ...

, one of the oldest surviving sculptures in Estonia. Inside, medieval mural painting survive, as do the noteworthy altar, triumphal cross and pulpit, which however all are of later date. Adjacent to the church is the graveyard with some of the graves dating from the 13th century.

References

Villages in Lääne County {{Lääne-geo-stub