We
are not competent to
write a scientific overview of the history of the church and due to
that we rely on sources available in the Internet, disclosing the
history bit by bit to the people interested. The following fragments
from history characterise the bitter human relationships the church had
to witness. Hopefully, we learn from them and we will do better in the
future.
The search word "Pöide St. Mary’s Church" gives thousands of results.
Hereby three references are presented.
Muinsuskaitseamet
Wikipedia
Wikiwand
The
church was built by people and some of them were depicted on the walls
of the church to thank them. These sculptures are known to be the first
pieces of art depicting islanders. Probably they were some outstanding
leaders. The last war changed their faces. The above-presented
reference to the web page of Histrodamus gives you an idea what they
might have looked like.
The tower of Pöide Church was so high that was seen in Virtsu. On
August 6, 1940, the lightning struck into the tower and it burnt down
causing a lot of damage also to the roof.
According to Albert Aav, who
witnessed the scene, after the thunder strike a thin column of smoke
started to rise slowly from the tower, but after 15 minutes open flames
burst out. To tell the truth after that incident the church did not do
well any more. Many people know that it was the day when Estonian
joined the fraternal people of the Soviet Union lead by comrade Stalin.
The photo of the church is from the web page of Pöide Rural
Municipality.