Püha is a village in

Saaremaa Parish Saaremaa Parish, also known as Saaremaa Municipality (), is a municipality in Saare County in western Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland a ...

Saare County Saare County ( or ''Saaremaa''; ; ; ; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It consists of Saaremaa, the largest island of Estonia, and several smaller islands near it, most notably Muhu, Ruhnu, Abruka and Vilsandi. The county borders Lääne Count ...

in western

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

. Before the administrative reform in 2017, the village was in

Pihtla Parish Pihtla Parish was a municipality in Saare County, Estonia. The municipality had a population of 1,400 (as of 1 January 2006) and covered an area of 228.11 km². During the administrative-territorial reform in 2017, all 12 municipalities on ...

Püha Church

The church in Püha was founded sometime during the second half of the 13th century, and construction continued throughout the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The construction is similar to other medieval churches on

Saaremaa Saaremaa (; ) is the largest and most populous island in Estonia. Measuring , its population is 31,435 (as of January 2020). The main island of the West Estonian archipelago (Moonsund archipelago), it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hi ...

, and includes an upper storey with a fireplace, intended as a place of refuge in times of trouble and accommodation for visiting pilgrims during times of peace. During the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

, the church was burnt by Russian troops and very badly damaged, so that little of the original decoration survives. The altarpiece was made by local master carver Gottfried Böhme of

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a populated places in Estonia, town on the island of Saaremaa in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Municipality and the seat of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded popul ...

in 1793 and displays similarities with the altarpiece in

Riga Cathedral Riga Cathedral (; ) formally The Cathedral Church of Saint Mary, is the Evangelical Lutheran cathedral in Riga, Latvia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Riga. The cathedral is one of the most recognizable landmarks in Latvia, and is featur ...

. The painting of the altarpiece is likewise the work of a local artist, Ludwig von Sass, while the

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

is a neoclassical piece, dating from 1793.

References

Villages in Saare County Gothic architecture in Estonia 13th-century churches in Estonia Kreis Ösel {{Saare-geo-stub