A church was built for the Turaida congregation in 1750. It is one of the oldest wooden churches in Latvia and has remained at its initial location without much rebuilding at all. Artistic research and restoration were conducted in the building between 2006 and 2009.
The Exhibition “The History of the Turaida Church and Congregation”
The history of building the Turaida church
Churches have been built on the Turaida church hill since ancient times. Archaeological digging between 1969 and 1971 confirmed that at least two other churches were at this location before the current one. The Great Northern War and the Black Plague of the 18th century decimated Vidzeme.
After peace was restored, the Turaida Estate began to build a new church in the mid-18th century. The work was done by local artisans and farmers, and the building was erected in cognisance of local building traditions. The new church was consecrated on January 28, 1750. It has remained pretty much unchanged until the present day. In 1932, the church became a protected architectural monument.
The Turaida congregation and its traditions
The first Christian congregation in Turaida was established early in the 13th century. The Reformation led the Catholic congregation in Turaida to become an evangelical Lutheran congregation instead. In 1589, the congregations of the Turaida Castle district were merged into the Lēdurga-Turaida congregation, and it continued to exist until 1947.
The congregation was shut down in 1965, and the church was taken over by the Sigulda Regional Research Museum. After a 24-year interruption, a Christmas service was held at the church in 1988, and this was done at the initiative of the museum reserve. The Turaida congregation was re-established on December 26, 1991. Archbishop Kārlis Gailītis visited Turaida on April 5, 1992, to re-consecrate the church.
Christian traditions have played a role in the lives of people in Turaida. Several generations have attended worship services at the Turaida church and received sacraments such as baptism and holy communion. Church rituals such as confirmation, marriage and funerals are a part of each Christian person’s life from birth until death. Christian values are closely linked to individual and public principles of ethics and morality. As a house of God, the church invites people to engage in sensible conversations and thoughts about that which is temporal and that which is eternal.
Pastors of the Turaida church
There is known information about 12 pastors of the Turaida congregation between 1750 and the present day. Prior to the 1920s, there were German and Latvian congregations, and worship services were conducted in both languages. Most of the pastors were Germans, and it was only in the late 19th century that the first Latvian pastor worked at the church. His name was Augusts Spalviņš. The clergy helped to establish schools in Vidzeme during the 18th century.
The pastors monitored procedures at the schools and made sure that all of the children from the congregation attended their lessons. A schoolhouse was built by the Turaida congregation in 1735. The pastors were the first people to start collecting information about the history of the church and to establish chronicles for the congregation. They also wrote or translated books about everyday life which included useful advice for readers.