Estonia Church FDC

Estonia FDC
Name: Church of the Holy Cross of Audru - Estonian Churches
Date of Issue: 16 October 2008

The history of the Church of the Holy Cross of Audru goes back to the first half of the 17th century, when the building of a wooden church started on the initiative of Countess Magdalena von Thurn. The church was consecrated on 9 October 1636 and named after the Holy Cross. The present stone church was put up in 1677-1680 under the patronage of Gabriel de la Gardie, a prolific church-builder, who erected 37 churches in Sweden; it is one of the few extant 17th century rural churches in Estonia. It is also quite exceptional that we know the names of the masons: Jürgen Grablings, Jacob Greisson and Matthias Woywoden. The Audru church is overwhelmingly a Baroque building with some Gothic features. It is of simple structure with a quadrangular choir attached to the main body. A stone steeple replaced its earlier wooden one as early as in 1715, and it has a slender Gothic spire. According to Baroque traditions, the roof over the main body has raised eaves. Major repairs in the church took place in 1834, 1872 and 1911. In the years after the restoration of Estonia's independence the roofs of the spire and the nave have been replaced, new double-glazed windows have been installed and also the cross at the top of the spire is new.

Comment: Estonian Churches series stamps have been issued every year since 2005.