St. John's Church, Tartu (, ) is a

Brick Gothic Brick Gothic (, , ) is a specific style of Gothic architecture common in Baltic region, Northeast and Central Europe especially in the regions in and around the Baltic Sea, which do not have resources of standing rock (though Glacial erratic, ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

church, one of the landmarks of the city of

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

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 ...

. It is dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

History

Initially, St John's was a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church, as the oldest parts of the current building originate from the 14th century. Before that, there has been a church building on the same place at least since the first half of the 13th century. Archaeological investigations have indicated that there may well have been a wooden church here in the 12th century. This is particularly remarkable because the national Christianisation did not take place until much later.Tartu Jaani
tartu.ee, retrieved 28 December 2013 The red brick building has seen extensive changes, as it was largely rebuilt after both the

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

s were added in 1746 and 1769. The church is now part of the

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. The EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Ch ...

.St Johns Church
Visit Estonia, retrieved 27 December 2013 The Great Fire of Tartu started near the church in 1775 and the church and nearby Uppsala House were spared the destruction which destroyed nearly two hundred houses. At the end of the 19th century the church supplied primary education. The actress Amalie Konsa received her only schooling here.

Description

The most outstanding feature of St. John's is its wealth of

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

figurines surrounding the church's exterior. Originally, there were more than a thousand hand-made figurines, each different from the others; now, about 200 have survived. The large number of individual figurines has given birth to the hypotheses that they might have been modelled after citizens of Tartu; on the other hand, some of them wear crowns, which hints they might depict someone else. Since 1999, St John's Church has two new bells named ''Peetrus'' and ''Paulus'' after city's two

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

s (respectively, St. Peter and

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

Church's congregation

The church is used by Tartu University-St. John's Congregation (). Before 2001, Tartu University Congregation and Tartu St. John's Congregation were standalone congregations.

References

External links

*
Church website
(in English). Tartu asv2022-04 img32 View from Emajõe Tower.jpg, Remote view of the church from Emajõe Tower St Johanniskirche 1860 Höflinger.jpg, St. John's Church in 1860 by

Louis Höflinger Georg Ludwig Friedrich Höflinger (bapt. 13 February 1825 – 16 September 1898) was a Baltic-German artist and photographer, who worked in Estonia. Höflinger was born in Schwalheim, Bad Nauheim, Hesse, German Confederation. In 1857, he acquire ...

Tartu Jaani kirik, Körber.jpg, The church in 1794 6916 Tartu Jaani kirik.jpg, Interior view Tartu_Jaani_Church_2007_5.jpg, Altar Tartu_Jaani_Church_2007_10.jpg, Entrance {{Authority control 14th-century churches Lutheran churches in Estonia Brick Gothic Gothic architecture in Estonia 14th-century establishments in Estonia Tourist attractions in Tartu Churches in Tartu

History

Description

Church's congregation

See also

References

External links