Opekalns Church

A national monument of archaeology. The property of the Opekalns Evangelical Lutheran parish. The church built the highest above the sea level in Latvia. The threshold of the Opekalna church is 235 m above the sea level. The pinnacle of the St.Peter’s church tower is 130 m above the sea level.

Apukalns, Apekalns or Opekalns?
In various sources, all Opekalns, Apekalns or Apukalns are mentioned. Long time ago, the hill which gave the name to the place and to the church was called Apukalns that sounded more like Opukols in the local dialect. When the spelling was matched to the literary Latvian language, the name was changed into Apekalns, while rewriting the German “Oppekaln”, the name Opekalns became popular. Nowadays, it would be correct to call the mountain Apukalns, but the parish – the Opekalns parish.

The church
Supposedly, the first church in Apukalns (1683- 1684) was brought from Alūksne as it can be concluded from the text of Ernst Glück’s report: “That is why the old church from here (Alūksne) must be moved to that beautiful place and surrounded by a cemetery so that the dead from the surroundings can be buried there.”.

In September 1701, during the incursion of the Circassians, the church burnt down. The entire surroundings of Apukalns suffered from fires, robberies, murders and kidnappings.

The other wooden church building was constructed in 1729 and served the needs of the parish until 1774.

The construction of a stone church building between 1774 and 1779 was the corvee for the local peasants. The building without significant reconstructions has remained until nowadays. The pride of the church is its altar, the altar painting and the pulpit which is also an art monument of a national significance. They all have been made by unknown craftsmen.

The parish
In the documents from Swedish times the parish was called Laicene. Until 1732, Apukalns was a part of the Aluksne parish. The priest, Ernst Glück, was the promoter of the separation of the Opekalns parish. Since 1733 the Opekalns parish has had its own priest.

The priest’s manor.
The Opekalns priest’s manor (Oppekaln Pastorat) was finally established on 28 May 1731.

When the new priest was elected in 1733, the priest’s house had not been finished yet and Captain Liphardam had to accommodate the priest in his house.

After World War II there were apartments installed in the buildings of the priest’s manor, but the new tenants did not care about the buildings so they gradually collapsed. The place of the manor can still be found on the side of the Sauleskals – Māriņkals road, near Dēliņkalns. The priest’s house is still recognizable.