St. John's Church, Tartu

St. John's Church, Tartu (Estonian: Jaani kirik) is a Brick Gothic Lutheran church, one of the landmarks of the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, a disciple of Jesus Christ and author of the fourth Christian Gospel.

History

St. John's Church in 1860 by Louis Höflinger.

Initially, St John's was a Catholic church, as the eldest 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.^[1] The red brick building has seen extensive changes, as it was largely rebuilt after both the Great Northern War and World War II. Baroque chapels were added in 1746 and 1769. The church is now part of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church.^[2]

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.^[3]

Description

The most outstanding feature of St. John's is its wealth of terracotta 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 saints (respectively, St. Peter and St. Paul).

See also

• Architecture of Estonia
• List of Brick Gothic buildings

External links

Media related to St. John's Church, Tartu at Wikimedia Commons

• Church website (in English).

References

• 

  Church view

• 

  View of the alter

• 

  in 1794

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  Altar

• 

  Entrance

Tartu landmarks Buildings and structures Emajõe Business Centre University main building Kivisild Raadi Manor St. John's Church St. Paul's Church Supreme Court of Estonia Tartu Cathedral Tartu Old Observatory Town Hall Tigutorn Uppsala House Von Bock House Precincts City Centre Supilinn Karlova Tammelinn Nature and parks Toomemägi Botanical Gardens Emajõgi Anne Canal Raadi cemetery Cultural institutions Vanemuine Estonian National Museum Estonian Literary Museum Estonian Sports Museum Tartu Toy Museum Science and education University of Tartu Estonian Biocentre Tartu Observatory Baltic Defence College Estonian Aviation Academy Estonian University of Life Sciences (Estonian Institute of Zoology and Botany) Estonian National Defence College Tartu Art College Sports Tamme Stadium Transportation Tartu Airport Railway station Bus Entertainment AHHAA