Estonian Apostolic-Orthodox Church Kuriste Church of the Nativity of God the Baptist

Museum address:

Taterma, 92174 Hiiumaa, Finland

Free entrance

Accessibility information:

Program

A bit about the history of the Orthodox Church in Hiiumaa

In 1883, four farmers from the village of Lelu in Käina parish attended a service at the Orthodox Church in Haapsalu. One of them, Tõnis Padu of Matse village, invited a priest (probably Nikolai Poletajev 1879-1888) to the island while he was in Haapsalu in early 1884. In June 1884, the priest from Haapsalu, Anton Padu, who had already been renamed in the anointing, visited and anointed fourteen more families on Lelu. Thus the foundation was laid for the Emmaste-Lelu (later Emmaste - Kuriste) Orthodox parish, now the Parish of the Nativity of the Lord of Hiiumaa in Kuriste. The congregation was officially established on 9 November 1884 in the village of Lelu, on Matse farm, where an Orthodox primary school was soon opened.

Kuriste Church of the Nativity of Christ the Saviour

The Church of the Nativity of the Christ Child in Kuriste is built of ore stones and yellow bricks, which at that time were delivered from Riga by horses and oxen. The church is surrounded by a mossy earthen garden. The sanctuary is said to have been built by experienced master builders from Saaremaa, who laid the cornerstone on 17 May 1888. The architects of the sanctuary were K. Nyman and I. Dmitrijevski.

The church was consecrated on 27 July 1890 as the Church of the Nativity of the Lord. A cemetery was built next to the newly completed church, and a schoolhouse and a residence for the priest were built. Today, the Kuriste Educational Society, which also shares the premises with the parish, operates in the old Orthodox schoolhouse where the peasants once received their primary education. It is also nice to note that thanks to the cooperation between the Educational Society and the municipality, the church is open on Saturdays during the summer.

Kuriste Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God is the first and only Orthodox church in Hiiumaa that has been in continuous operation to this day. With the blessing of Ecumenical Metropolitan Stephen and with the support of the National Shrines Programme, local businesses, the parish and parishioners, the church received a new roof, floor and its former beautiful interior in 2011. A new steeple was completed on the belfry in 2013. On Sundays, the church bus, operated by the hard-working family of Dagoplast AS, brings the parishioners from different parts of Hiiumaa to this beautiful church.

Music Night

We will keep the sanctuary open from 18:00 to 23:00.

At 19, 21 there will be discussion groups where we will talk about the Church's heritage and visit the bell tower of the sanctuary and play a bell game.