Muhu - Katariina kirik

The island is of Muhu is divided from mainland Estonia by the Suur Strait and from Saaremaa by the Väike Strait. It is linked by ferry to the mainland, and to Saaremaa by a causeway.

In January 1227, an army of the Livonian Brothers of the Sword crossed on sea ice from the mainland and attacked the island of Saaremaa to reduce the last holdout of pagan Estonians.

The ) was fought on 16 February 1270 between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Livonian Order on the frozen Baltic Sea between the Muhu Island and the mainland. The Lithuanians achieved a decisive victory.

The church was founded by the master of the Livonian Order Otto von Lutterberg in 1267. The church was probably made of wood and only replaced by the current stone building in the final years of the 13th century. A window in the west wall and the base of the altar dates from this period. Somewhat later are the murals.

During the Great Northern War in 1640 the church was damaged by a fire. In 1941, it was bombed in a German air raid. and that destroyed the roof. Upto 1958 the church had no roof, what caused immense damage.

Before the Reformation, the (then catholic) church was decorated with murals that were found in 1970 under a thick layer of plaster. Unfortunately, the restoration failed at that time, but one of the paintings is still there.