OODEN CHURCHES W IN SLOVAKIA EMS OF RELIGIOUS FOLK WOODEN ARCHITECTURE Glovakiaovakia isis a hillyhilly country,country, withwith thickthick coniferousconiferous andand 300300 woodenwooden religiousreligious S deciduousdeciduous forestsforests coveringcovering 338%8% ofof iitsts area.area. NoNo doubtdoubt thatthat buildingsbuildings hhere.ere. ManyMany isis oneone ofof thethe reasonsreasons whywhy ourour ancestorsancestors camecame toto havehave suchsuch a ofof themthem werewere wipedwiped feelingfeeling fforor woodwood andand excelledexcelled inin tthehe uusese ofof thisthis naturalnatural material.material. outout byby wars,wars, oror theythey TheThe traditionstraditions ofof workingworking withwith woodwood goinggoing backback hundredshundreds werewere builtbuilt ofof lessless ofof yearsyears areare mostmost clearlyclearly toto bebe seenseen iinn tangibletangible formform inin thethe durabledurable woodwood andand spheresphere ooff folkfolk architecture.architecture. EvenEven todaytoday therethere areare charmingcharming werewere mercilesslymercilessly littlelittle villagesvillages withwith woodenwooden cottagescottages andand a strikingstriking woodenwooden destroyeddestroyed byby thethe HERVARTOV HERVARTOV church. For the most part the churches are separate from other ravages of time. secular buildings, situated on higher ground or in places that About 50 churches have survived to the present day, mostly provide natural refuge. They are often in small cemeteries and from the 17th to 19th centuries. The greatest concentration of surrounded by carved wooden or cast-iron crosses. wooden churches is to be found in the north-east of Slovakia. In Ingenious carpentry techniques were used to build the churches 1968 twenty-seven wooden churches in this area were declared TVRDOŠÍN without any metal or nails. Their style was a fusion of western national cultural monuments. Two of them, in Hervartov OMAN ATHOLIC HERVARTOV and eastern, Byzantine, culture. and Hraničné, are Roman Catholic and the other twenty-fi ve C TRNOVÉ Although the overall design of the buildings was determined served religions of the Eastern rite - Bodružal, Miroľa, Príkra, by church regulations and religious traditions, the timber Šemetkovce, Potoky, Korejovce, Hunkovce, Krajné Čierno, construction of the walls, the domes and other parts were the Dobroslava, Nižný Komárnik, Ladomirová, Uličské Krivé, work of carpenters, folk craftsmen. Great emphasis was laid on Topoľa, Ruský Potok, Hrabová Roztoka, Kalná Roztoka, Inovce, CHURCHES the interior of the church, which had to be decorated in such a Ruská Bystrá, Brežany, Jedlinka, Kožany, Krivé, Tročany, Frička way as to satisfy the taste of the local population and the artistic and Lukov-Venécia. R aspect of the church interiors adds to the value of these historical In recent years the building skill, impressive beauty and perfect oman Catholic churcheschurches formform thethe smallestsmallest grgroupoup of in the village of Bytčica, but laterlater movedmoved ttoo Trnové,Trnové, wwherehere buildings. harmony with the surrounding landscape shown in these The wooden churches in Slovakia served and still serve a religious buildings have inspired people to ensure that the most Rwoodenwooden religiousreligious buildings. TheyThey areare alsoalso aamongmong ththee it nownow standsstands surroundedsurrounded byby thethe cemetery.cemetery. Its twotwo llargearge variety of denominations. They were built by Roman Catholics, valuable of them do not remain just treasures of Slovak cultural oldest,oldest, being rarerare LateLate GothicGothic monumentsmonuments fromfrom thethe end of RenaissanceRenaissance bells areare dateddated 16041604 andand 16061606 andand thethe interiorinterior of Greek Catholics, as well as Orthodox believers or Protestants. heritage, but are included on the UNESCO List of World Cultural the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century. For reasons the church is from the Baroque period. According to the surviving records, there were originally about and Natural Heritage. of security they are open only during the services, but 44 46 36 21 22 23 visitors interested in seeing inside can phone the relevant 48 Visiting season 24 25 parish offi ce beforehand and they will arrange for local Čadca 13 26 Tvrdošín 7 11 27 inhabitants to show them around. 4 45 14 Svidník 28 8 Bardejov 10 12 20 9 29 Hervartov – Here there is a little church built at the end 10 am – 4 pm 47 6 Kežmarok 15 30 July – September Žilina Dolný Kubín 18 37 of the 15th century in the spirit of Gothic principles near (except Mondays) 1 5 16 Stropkov Liptovský Individual bookings in other months. Ružomberok Mikuláš Poprad 33 Bardejov and dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. The material Rajec 43 3 34 Martin 17 Prešov 35 used is red spruce. The interior is divided into two parts and Levoča 19 38 Trenčín Humenné 39 decorated with wall paintings from 1665. The main altar is TVRDOŠÍN Brezno 41 40 the original one dating back to 1460 – 1470. 42 Banská Košice All Saints’ Church (Kostol Všetkých svätých) in the local Bystrica 2 Rožňava Trebišov Zvolen 32 cemetery in Tvrdošín deserves particular attention. It was Detva mentioned in the historical annals as long ago as 1551. It Trnava 31 has a remarkable coffered ceiling in the nave of the church, made up of 49 different ornamental rosettes. In the second Nitra half of the 18th century the church was renovated and a Bratislava large Baroque altar added. In 1994 the town of Tvrdošín 1 TRNOVÉ 13 JEDLINKA 25 BODRUŽAL 37 POTOKY was awarded the Europa Nostra prize for the exemplary 2 HRONSEK 14 BARDEJOVSKÉ KÚPELE 26 KRAJNÉ ČIERNO 38 KALNÁ ROZTOKA 3 SVÄTÝ KRÍŽ 15 HERVARTOV 27 HUNKOVCE 39 HRABOVÁ ROZTOKA restoration of this heritage site. 4 TVRDOŠÍN 16 TROČANY 28 KOREJOVCE 40 INOVCE The oldest Roman Catholic wooden church to survive is 5 LEŠTINY 17 BREŽANY 29 MIROĽA 41 RUSKÁ BYSTRÁ 6 KEŽMAROK 18 KOŽANY 30 ŠEMETKOVCE 42 KOŠICE in Trnové near Žilina. It is dedicated to the village’s patron 7 HRANIČNÉ 19 HUMENNÉ 31 KOŽUCHOVCE 43 MARTIN saint, St. George (sv. Juraj). The earliest written record of 8 MATYSOVÁ 20 SVIDNÍK 32 NOVÁ SEDLICA 44 ZBOJ 9 STARÁ ĽUBOVŇA 21 DOBROSLAVA 33 TOPOĽA 45 ZÁBREŽIE the small Gothic church, which has a single nave and a 10 LUKOV 22 LADOMIROVÁ 34 RUSKÝ POTOK 46 MIKULÁŠOVÁ large adjoining tower, comes from 1583. It was fi rst built 11 FRIČKA 23 NIŽNÝ KOMÁRNIK 35 ULIČSKÉ KRIVÉ 47 ZUBEREC 12 KRIVÉ 24 PRÍKRA 36 NOVÁ POLIANKA 48 RUDNO Rímskokatolícky farský úrad, Richvald Obecný úrad Hervartov, 086 22 Kľušov (Roman Catholic Parish Offi ce) MsKS, sídlisko Medvedzie, 027 44 Tvrdošín www.snm.sk www.sacr.sk 085 01 Bardejov 1 (Municipal Offi ce) tel.:+421-43/532 21 63, 532 21 67 tel.: + 421-54-479 32 39 tel.: +421-54-472 37 60 2 3 KEŽMAROK KEŽMAROK LEŠTINY HRONSEK Master Podkonický. Two of the four enormous lime trees ROTESTANT ARTICLED LEŠTINY growing in front of the church are said to have been planted “ ” ISTEBNÉ KEŽMAROK on the occasion of the consecration of the church. SVÄTÝ. KRÍŽ The articled churches in Istebné from 1686 and Leštiny HRONSEK from 1688 (near the town of Dolný Kubín in the Orava CHURCHES region) are smaller, less sophisticated types. They were built in an area restricted by the terrain and that is why P there is only a hint of the shape of a cross. They are more he remarkableremarkable wwoodenooden ProtestantProtestant churcheschurches knownknown penetratingpenetrating the interiorinterior of the church.church. ParticularlyParticularly interestinginteresting like the older tradition of single-nave churches with oblong Tas “articled“articled churches”churches” formform a sspecialpecial branchbranch of featuresfeatures include the choir loftslofts andand thethe paintingspaintings on woodenwooden ground plans. In contrast to the inconspicuous exterior, their ProtestantProtestant architecture.architecture. TheyThey havehave a Greek-crossGreek-cross planplan andand panels depicting scenes fromfrom the BBibleible interwoveninterwoven wwithith interiors are surprisingly crammed and over-ornate. The were built according to articles issued in 1681by Emperor animal motifs and fl owers. The belfry was built in 1781. Leštiny church has been preserved in an almost authentic Leopold I. In this way the absolutist regime of the Austro- Kežmarok – The Holy Trinity Church (Kostol sv. Trojice) form. We can still admire the richly decorated sacristy, Hungarian Empire hoped to halt the spread of Evangelical is the only articled church whose walls are covered with the painted marbled coffers in the ceiling and the illusory Protestantism. Articled churches had to stand at the edge plaster. It was built in 1717, thanks to a collection in which architecture on the walls. Orava’s wooden articled churches of the village or town and they had to be built within one Protestants from northern Europe also participated. Swedish have their own inimitable charm, their artistic expression year. The use of stone and metal was prohibited, wood sailors are said to have helped in its construction and that being very much infl uenced by folk traditions. being the only material allowed. The churches could not is why the interior is reminiscent of the upside-down prow SVÄTÝ KRÍŽ have foundations, towers or bells and the entrances had of a ship with round portholes. The church was built of to face away from the village. Separate belfries, adjoining yew and red spruce without the use of a single piece of the churches or standing separate like large prism-shaped metal. The vaulted ceiling is supported by just four twisting Visiting hours wooden constructions, are an eye-catching feature of these columns with carved capitals. It is somewhat smaller in Svätý Kríž sites. It was originally planned to build 38 wooden articled size, accommodating a congregation of 1500. Of particular 1.10. - 31. 5. daily 9 am – 3 pm churches in Slovakia, but only nine were actually built and of interest is the wooden altar from 1727 with rich Baroque 1.6. - 30. 9. daily 9 am – 5 pm these only fi ve have survived. fi gural and ornamental decoration. Services every Sunday 9 am – 10 am Svätý Kríž – The oldest articled church from 1773 – 1774, Hronsek – another Protestant church with a belfry near originally stood in the village of Paludza.