10 Churches & Cathedrals in Parnu County That You Shouldn't Miss

The imposing Pootsi-Kopu Holy Trinity Apostolic Orthodox Church is made of natural stone and decorated with large domes. It was built in 1873. The church has a baroque atmosphere and it is rather unique in Parnu County in architectural terms as there is no bell tower above the main entrance. Other orthodox churches have also been built by this standard design created by G. Schell, such as Lalsi Church in Viljandi County, Ooriku and Leisi in Saaremaa, etc. Useful information! Some of the congregation members who separated from the rest built the nearby wooden Seliste church 7 years earlier. There is a memorial plaque to Platon, the first bishop of the Estonian Apostolic-Orthodox Church, inside the church.

Kihnu Church, built in 1784, is one of the few orthodox churches converted from a Lutheran sacral building. Almost all Kihnu people converted to orthodoxy from 1846 to 1847, the Lutheran church was given to the orthodox congregation by order of Tsar Nicholas I and an onion dome was built on the bell tower. Inside the church, you can admire a simple but beautiful iconostasis that covers almost the entire width of the room. Useful information!The old Kihnu Church, which is really a chapel, was located on the northern tip of the island on a high sandy coast and according to a legend, it was destroyed in a fire during the Great Northern War.

Tori Church, which was built in 1854, has a complicated past. The German Army burnt the church down in 1944 when retreating from the Red Army. Trees were already growing in the church hall when its restoration began in 1990. The church was consecrated in 2001 as a memorial to all victims of the Second World War and is now known as the Estonian Soldiers Memorial Church. The church is well loved by local people and also used as a concert venue. The church also performs several functions as a memorial church – it is the place where Estonian policemen and officers and sworn into office and where historical anniversaries of Estonia are celebrated.

Completed in 1768, the Church of Jekaterina is the most style pure and ample baroque church in Estonia. The design of facades characteristically for baroque disjunct and relief, the six broaches are finished with slender needle-shaped tips that add lightness and festiveness to the building. Since church is built a century before the majority of orthodox churches, it differs from them from architectural point of view but at the same time it has influenced the development of orthodox church architecture in whole Balticum.Interesting to know!Parnu church of Jekaterina was built by order and with financing of Russian queen Catherine the II.To this day Parnu Russian congregation operates in the church.

Vandra Church is one of the simplest churches from the 18th century. The church consists of a longitudinal building, divided by windows and doors, and joined by a square vestry in the east. The church is named in honour of the reformer Martin Luther.

Haademeeste Lutheran Church was built in 1874, about the same time as the Apostolic Orthodox Church, and even though it is smaller than the latter, it is definitely a worthy opponent. The nature stone church in historicist-eclectic style is enlivened by red brick details and two rows of windows with sharp arches on the upper ones and segmented arches on the lower.The house of God was given a slate roof when it was built. People tell a story about how wealthy ship-owners promised to buy the material needed for the roof, so the builders decided to take what they could and selected the most expensive material.

Due to the massive religious conversion at the end of the 19th century, the 18th-century Ekateriina's Church became too small for the Parnu orthodox congregation. So, in 1904, the historic Old Russian-style Parnu Transformation of Our Lord Apostolic Orthodox Church was built and its congregation (Estonian) was separated from the former congregation of Ekateriina's congregation (Russian). The church had a typical to that time brick facade and a base of granite ashlar work. The campanile is 38 m high and the cupola 34 m high. The altar wall holds 11 icons and 11 major wall paintings with figurative composition.

Eliisabet's Church, inaugurated in 1750, is the most outstanding sacral building of the Baroque period in Estonia. The beautiful church in the centre of Parnu invites you to step in and look around to see a pulpit in the Neo-Gothic style from the middle of the 19th century, the altar and the altarpiece “Resurrection”. One of the best organs in Estonia is in Eliisabet's Church and the place is popular as a concert hall among music lovers.Interesting to know!The church got its name from Russian Empress Jelizaveta thanks to whom the congregation got a Lutheran church.