Paide Püha Risti kirik (Paide)

 temple, church, interesting place, listed building / architectural heritage, lutheran church/kirk, historical building, place of worship, 18th century construction, tourist attraction

The Church of the Holy Cross was already located in Paide in the Middle Ages. In 1573, the Russians blew up the church during the siege of Paide. During the Swedish period, a small wooden church was built in front of the current church, which was burned down in 1703 along with the city. In the 1730s, an auxiliary church was built in the old greenhouse on the site of the wooden church from the Swedish period.
In 1767, construction began on a new building on the walls of the medieval church. First, the foundations were cleaned and excavated. According to August Wilhelm Hupel, medieval pillars, columns and tombstones came out of the soil. In 1771, the cornerstone of the new church was laid during a service organized by the church leader Berend Reinhold von Stackelberg and the church pastor David Gottlieb Glanström. Due to financial problems that arose in the meantime, the church was not completed until 1786. The church was blessed by the Reverend Järva and the church pastor Johann Friedrich Rinne. The walls of the church and the tower were built of limestone, but the vaulted ceiling and the top of the tower were made of wood. The tower of Paide Church was built not on the western side of the church, but on the southern side. This was to connect the city's market square and the church building into a single classicist whole. On May 10, 1845, Paide Church burned down. A fundraiser was organized to restore the church. 10,480 rubles were received in donations, of which 500 rubles were donated by Emperor Nicholas I. At the end of the 18th century, the Paide Church Garden was established near the church.
In 1895–1898, an iron fence was built around the church, and in 1901, eight stained glass windows made in Riga were ordered for the church. In 1909–1910, the church was extensively rebuilt.Interior view of Paide Church from 1929–1940
The altar wall of the church dates from 1848. The altar painting "Ascension of Christ" was painted by Nikolai von Baranoff after Carl Timoleon von Neff[2]. The original painting was in the imperial chapel in St. Petersburg. The altar surround was designed by August Roosileht. The baptismal font is one half of a large seashell, brought from the Philippines by the Mäo landlord, Admiral Olaf von Stackelberg. The church also houses a memorial epitaph for parishioners who fell in the War of Independence, designed by August Roosileht. The memorial was restored in 1989. A bell that strikes the hour was placed in the church tower in 1848. The tower bells also date from the same period. The organ was built in 1933 by Kriisad.