St. Trinitatis Church
Mr. Matti Laine, Seinäjoki Polytechnic
The School of Building Conservation at Seinäjoki Polytechnic has for several years been involved in the documentation and conservation of St. Trinitatis Church in Liepaja, Latvia. Currently, the work is being continued by the 3D Bridge Project, which is financed by the Culture 2000 Programme.
Why are we in Seinäjoki, Finland, interested in a church in Latvia? One of the reasons is the fact that the building is tightly connected with the process of Finland gaining her independence. It was in St. Trinitatis Church that Finland’s very first soldier’s oaths were sweared in February, 1918. After that, the Finnish jaegers who had been accommodated in Liepaja, then known as Libau, departed for home in order to take part in the battle for independence.
St. Trinitatis Church was built in 1742-1758. The interior of the late Baroque building already shows features of Rococo. Some repairs were made to the church and the belfry was heightened in 1865-66. At a later period of time, the belfry was raised again. The church is made of Gotlandish sandstone with roughcast surfaces. The almost rectangular building has a west tower and short cross-arms formed by the porches. There are bricked vaults above the three-nave space, which is surrounded by a gallery stretching from the organ on the south side to the porch on the north side. The organ has been famous since it was built and today, it is probably the largest working mechanical organ in the world.
Since 2002, students of the School of Building Conservation at Seinäjoki Polytechnic have been doing their practical training in Liepaja every year. The training periods as well as the conservation and documentation work have been supported by the Leonardo da Vinci financing programme. On the basis of the research and documentation, conserving and cleaning measures have been carried out. The issues regarding the modelling of the church are based on them.
The church has endured time rather well, but there is one big problem, namely the sinking of the pillars supporting the vaults, which has resulted in cracking of the pillars. One of the targets of the 3D Bridge Project is to create a three-dimensional model by means of which the cracking could be monitored and illustrated. Possibly, the direction and speed of the sinking could also be estimated. By means of modelling, we hope to be able to further the documentation and record the current state of the church and, moreover, bring a building related with our history closer to the Finnish people.
Regarding the preservation of the St. Trinitatis Church, our partners in both projects are the following: Technical University of Riga, Evangelical-Lutheran Consistory of Latvia, St. Trinitatis Church, City of Liepaja, Regional Museum of South Ostrobothnia, Finland and Association of Jaeger Tradition of South Ostrobothnia, Finland.
