Pöide - Maarja kirik

In the 13th century, Danes and Germans had brought Estonia and Livonia under their rule in various crusades. The new lords brought Christianity with them and introduced a system of taxes and duties. The Estonian and Livonian population was largely subjugated and made unfree.

In April 1343, the Estonian population rose up against the foreign rulers for the first time. During this uprising, which was ultimately suppressed, the Ordensburg, owned like the whole island of Saaremaa by the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, in Pöide, was destroyed.

It is believed that the first church was completed in the 1230s. It was adjoined the Ordensburg. The round-arched portals indicate a transitional style between Romanesque and Gothic. The round apse of the early church also points to the Romanesque style. In the 13th or early 14th century, a vault was added to the original church in both directions.

After the Soviet occupation in 1944, the church was plundered and vandalized. In 1948 it was closed for the congregation. Renovation started in the late 1950s.