Located in Lääneranna Municipality, Kirbla's medieval stone church is currently being studied by heritage conservation and restoration students as part of their practical training, department director Anneli Randla explained.  

"We try to visit all of Estonia's medieval churches, and we've already made the rounds in Järva County, and been to quite a few churches in Lääne County as well," she said. "Kirbla was one of the ones where no research had been done yet, and in general even art historians have studied it very little."

According to the department director, a visit to Kirbla Church had actually been planned about a decade ago already, but back then, its interior environment was very damp and in bad shape.

"Kirbla Church has been fitted with an automatic ventilation system since then, and the indoor environment here is much better now," she added.

Over the course of a week's worth of work, the church's ceilings and vaults have been examined millimeter by millimeter. Randla says the students' efforts have uncovered valuable historical layers.

"What we've found so far is that there is a keystone above the vault bearing a coat of arms, which was once painted in color, and the ribs were painted with a herringbone pattern — a medieval finish — and on the triumphal arch we've uncovered imitation stonework," she highlighted.

The department chief noted that the team has already recovered a great deal about the earlier appearance of Kirbla Church, and not just about the walls and vaults, but also its furnishings.

"For example, what the organ loft looked like, its columns, as well as the manor owners' box or pastor's box in the chancel — all of these belonged to a single whole," she explained.

More lavishly decorated

"They were finished as a whole at various times as well," Randla continued. "For example, the columns supporting the organ loft were painted with a marble imitation. This church was once decorated much, much more lavishly than what we see now with its relatively austere finish."

According to Randla, the most interesting finds will be left visible for everyone to see.

"Parts where less information was uncovered or that aren't worth leaving exposed we'll restore to their previous condition," she added. "Fortunately, there's quite a lot of interesting material here that can be uncovered and left visible."

Located along the Risti–Virtsu–Kuivastu Highway in Western Estonia, Kirbla Church is the country's smallest medieval parish church.

Over the past two decades, students from the Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) have conducted conservation studies on around 20 churches in total.

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