On Saturday, at Audru Holy Cross Lutheran Church, just outside Pärnu, the church tower's historic cross, now gleaming with a fresh golden finish, and its new orb, were consecrated.

The cross atop the church is historic, but the orb is completely new, as the old one was in too poor a condition to restore. A time capsule has been placed inside the orb containing historical and contemporary texts.

The roof of the church spire was also restored during the two-year-long renovation, which cost €260,000 and was mostly funded by the National Heritage Board.

"The metal sheeting was rusted through, water had leaked in through holes, and the wooden structures had decayed. The tower had become structurally unsafe. We are in a coastal area, and strong winds and storms could have toppled the spire from its place. That danger is now eliminated, and whereas Audru's landmark used to be a rusty church roof, it is now a red church tower crowned with a golden cross and orb," said Rev. Lembit Tammsalu of the EELC Audru Holy Cross congregation.

Juhan Kilumets, an art historian and restorer who led the renovation work, said that restoring churches with distinguished histories is always interesting.

"Audru is no exception. It's a Baroque church, which is relatively rare among our rural churches, and the structural supports of the spire likely date from the late 18th century. Somewhere, the documents found inside the old orb are still awaiting review. There's a fair amount of historically interesting material here. The good news is that the papers are relatively well preserved and include documents from three different periods. The oldest are from the late 18th century, including a record of repairs from 1783. Most of the documents date from repairs done in 1910. The most recent was a one-line note from 1993 stating that the church tower had been repaired," Kilumets said.

The church plans to put the old tower orb and the historical documents found inside it on public display for interested visitors.

Audru Church, which was built in 1680, is one of the few 17th-century rural churches left in the country, according to Visit Estonia. It was built under the patronage of the great church builder Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, who built 37 churches in Sweden.

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