Setomaa village church reconsecrated after community-led rebuild

In the Setomaa village of Miikse, St. John's Day according to the Julian calendar was marked on Monday with the reconsecration of the village's strikingly renovated Orthodox church, the Southern Estonian edition of daily Postimees writes.
Originally built in 1953 by locals, the Miikse Church of the St. John the Forerunner recently underwent full exterior and interior renovations, financed only by private donations, the paper wrote (link in Estonian).
The restoration began modestly with plans for a new door, but soon expanded to include a new roof, bell tower and foundations.
Architects and builders drew on traditional Seto belt patterns and folk dress colors of red, blue and lambswool white to visually root the church in its regional identity — ties which helped attract widespread support from donors, many of whom were Seto or had Seto roots.
"Even those whose family's church might lie across the border, in Taelova, or Pankjavitsa, felt that something wonderful was being done in Setomaa — a church in the Seto identity — and they happily contributed," said Miikse community member Allar Tulik.
Miikse is around two kilometers from the Russian border.

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Editor: Aili Vahtla