Sutlepa chapel

Sutlepa chapel, currently an exhibit at the Estonian Open Air Museum, is one of the oldest surviving wooden churches in Estonia. Only its foundations remain in the cemetery where it once stood.

The exact date of construction of the chapel is unknown. The year 1699 is carved above the door of the church, but archive records refer to the chapel as early as 1627 with additional reports from 1670 and 1698. There is another number carved into the doorpost – 1837. This was when the chapel was dismantled for refurbishment and then reassembled using logs from the neighbouring Rooslepa chapel, which had been upgraded to a larger stone chapel in 1835. The chapel could accommodate around 150 people.

The wooden chapel with its thatched roof looks more like a farmhouse. Only the small bell tower on the western gable suggests that it is actually a place of worship. The interior of the chapel reflects the first half of the 19th century.  The pulpit in the chapel was made in 1837 by the village carpenter Johannes Klingberg who modelled it on Baroque examples. The altar table and rails as well as the octagonal baptismal font date from the early 19th century. The painting of Christ hanging above the altar was donated to the chapel by the local manor lord C. von Taube in 1831. The altar wall in the chapel is fitted with simplistic stained glass windows in tin frames. A collection box sits next to the door, where donations could be left from both inside and outside the building. The sheet metal wreaths hanging on the walls are in memory of the men who were lost at sea.

In 1825, the chapel was used for services on eight occasions. It is safe to assume that it was also used for baptisms, weddings and funerals. Services were held in both Estonian and Swedish.

After the Swedes left during World War II, services in Sutlepa ceased and the chapel was used only for funerals. In 1970, the chapel was dismantled and taken to the Estonian Open Air Museum, where it was reassembled six years later. Initially it was just an exhibit, but in 1989 the chapel was reconsecrated and now functions as a filial church of the congregation of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church in St. John’s Church in Tallinn. Services are held on major church holidays and folk holidays.

The altar on the foundations survives in Sutlepa.

The cemetery itself has probably been in use as a burial ground since the 16th century. The older part of the cemetery is located around the site of the former chapel. Nearly all of the territory of the enclosed part of the cemetery serves its intended purpose. A bell tower was erected at the main gate of the cemetery in 1996.