Suure-Jaani Church (Suure-Jaani)

 lutheranism, interesting place, listed building / architectural heritage, lutheran church/kirk, historical building, place of worship, 13th century construction, tourist attraction

The Church of St. John the Evangelist in Suure-Jaani is a fortified church in the town of Suure-Jaani, Põhja-Sakala rural municipality, Viljandi County, at Järve Street 4. Previously, the church was part of the Suure-Jaani parish. The Church of St. John the Evangelist is a cultural monument. The church, dedicated to John the Evangelist, belongs to the Suure-Jaani Johannes congregation of the Estonian Orthodox Church. During the Catholic era, the Suure-Jaani church had two auxiliary churches or chapels. One was located near Vastemõisa and was popularly called the Church of the Cross, the other was located near Aimla manor (the Aimla chapel). The Aimla chapel is no longer mentioned in the Polish revisions of 1599, but the Chapel of the Cross was still in use at that time. The Church of St. John was built before 1300 and is therefore the oldest stone country church in Viljandi County. The sanctuary consisted of a three-bay nave with three vaults (the vaults of which were destroyed in the Livonian War) and a choir room with a rectangular ground plan. The church lacked a sacristy, but it had a strong west tower, which was characteristic of churches in the area of ​​the Order – the top of the west tower could be used as a shelter.During the Livonian War, the Suure-Jaani Church fell into ruins, and it was still in ruins in 1613. During the restoration of the building, the walls were made higher and wooden vaults were built. One floor was also added to the tower. The tower bell was cast in 1652 at Johan Putens' foundry in Stockholm. In 1703, the church burned down during the Northern War, and the building was not fully restored until 1767. Soon after the war, in 1728, the church already had a wooden bell tower, where the tower bells that had been hidden in the meantime were placed.The vault was not restored during the restoration of the church. The wooden ceiling built in 1767 is still in the church today. It is likely that in the last quarter of the 19th century, the Suure-Jaani Church was furnished in the neo-Gothic style. The altarpiece "Christ on the Cross" (after Guido Reni) was probably completed in 1887. Its author is unknown, as the initials on the canvas are not legible. The organ brochure from 1804 (organ master Stein from Pärnu) remained even after the new organ was built by the Kriisa brothers in 1937.