Pöide, 3km south of the main highway, was the Saaremaa headquarters of the German Knights of the Sword and this fortress-church, built in the 13th and 14th centuries, remains an imposing symbol of their power. Pillaged and abandoned in Soviet times and reconsecrated in 1999, it now serves Lutheran, Methodist and Orthodox congregations, and its crumbling exterior is offset by a perfect stained-glass window above the altar.
During the St George’s Night Uprising of 1343 the knights were besieged within the church for eight days. Their Estonian assailants assured them that if they surrendered no swords would be raised against them. True to their word, and proving that pagans have a sense of humour, they stoned the Germans to death.
