Carpathian Wooden Churches is the name of a UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes nine wooden religious buildings built between the 1600s and 1700s in eight places in Slovakia. These buildings include two Roman Catholic churches in Hervartov and Tvrdošín, three Protestant churches called Articular churches in Hronsek, Leštiny, and Kežmarok, three Greek Catholic churches in Bodružal, Ruská Bystrá, and Ladomirová, and one belfry in Hronsek.

In addition to these nine churches, there are about 50 more wooden churches in the area of modern-day Slovakia, mostly in the northern and eastern parts of the Prešov Region (see e.g. this map).

List of the sites

The following list includes wooden religious buildings that are part of the World Heritage site.

The Roman Catholic wooden church of St. Francis of Assisi in Hervartov has a Gothic style, shown by its tall and narrow shape, which is unusual for a wooden church. It was built in the second half of the 15th century and is the oldest of its kind in Slovakia. The floor is made of stone, unlike most wooden churches where the floor is usually made of wood. Rare wall paintings were added in 1665 during the Reformation period. These paintings show scenes such as Adam and Eve in Eden and St. George fighting a dragon. The main altar, which honors Virgin Mary, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. Barbara, was made between 1460 and 1470 and was restored in the second half of the 20th century.

The Roman Catholic Gothic church of All Saints in Tvrdošín was built in the second half of the 15th century and later changed to a Renaissance style in the 17th century. Its Baroque main altar, which shows All Saints, was made at the end of the 17th century. Part of the original Gothic altar, featuring St. Peter and St. John the Baptist, is now in a museum in Budapest after World War I. The painted ceiling, which shows a starry sky, and many religious items from the 17th century are also notable.

Strict rules from the Congress of Sopron (1681) limited the construction of Protestant "articular" churches. These rules required the churches to be built in one year, without metal parts like nails, and without towers. The church in Hronsek was built from October 23, 1725, to the autumn of 1726, the same year the nearby belfry was completed. The church is 8 meters tall and shaped like a cross with arms 23 meters and 18 meters long. Because of unusual design elements similar to Scandinavian architecture, it is believed that craftsmen from Norway or Sweden helped build it. The church has 5 doors and 1100 benches arranged so that 1100 people can attend services. The altar has 6 tables made in 1771 by Master Samuel Kialovič.

The wooden evangelical articular church in Leštiny, in Slovakia’s Orava region, was built by Jób Zmeškal and completed in 1688. The interior, dating to the 17th and 18th centuries, is fully painted. The main altar was made in the 18th century, and the famous Slovak poet Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav was baptized there.

The church in Kežmarok, built in 1717, is known for its beautiful interior with unique wall paintings and wood carvings. It is considered the most beautiful of the last five remaining articular churches in Slovakia. To fund its construction, people raised money in many parts of Europe, including Sweden and Denmark. The architect was Juraj Müttermann from Poprad. The church is 30.31 meters wide, 34.68 meters long, and 20.60 meters tall. With six side choirs, it can hold more than 1500 people, a remarkable feat for a wooden church. Ceiling paintings began in 1717 and continued for decades, showing a blue sky, 12 apostles, 4 evangelists, and the Holy Trinity above the altar. Ján Lerch from Kežmarok built the altar between 1718 and 1727, with a central image of the Calvary. The organ, made between 1717 and 1720 by Vavrinec Čajkovský and later expanded by Master Martin Korabinský, is also a special feature. After restoration in the 1990s, regular services are held there again.

The Greek Catholic church of St. Nicholas in Bodružal was built in 1658. It has three connected square parts aligned east to west, with three towers (the largest holding bells) topped with small onion-shaped domes and iron crosses. It belongs to the folk Baroque style. The church is surrounded by a cemetery, wall, and a 19th-century belfry. Some 18th-century wall paintings and an iconostasis, along with other icons from the same period, remain. The altar was rebuilt in the 1990s, and the entire building was restored in 2004. Two of the three bells were melted down during World War I and replaced in the 1920s. From 1968 to the mid-1990s, the church held both Greek Catholic and Eastern Orthodox services. Today, it is only used by the Greek Catholic Church.

The church of St. Nicholas in Ruská Bystrá, built at the start of the 18th century, has two towers. Its roof shape closely resembles traditional peasant houses. The interior, which includes religious items from the 18th century, is also notable. The church of Archangel Michael in Ladomirová, built in 1742 without a single nail, has a similar design to the one in Bodružal, including its surrounding wall, cemetery, and belfry.

Resources

• "Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area." UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 30 September 2008.
• "Wooden Churches in Slovakia." Drevené kostolíky na Slovensku. Archived from the original on 28 July 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
• "Wooden Churches as National Cultural Monuments in eastern Slovakia." Drevené kostolíky Karpát. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
• "Drevený artikulárny kostol v Kežmarku." Evangelic churches in Slovakia. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
• Slotová, Mária (2002). Carpathian Wooden Pearls. trans. Magdaléna Lazarová. Prešov: Dino. ISBN 978-80-85575-22-4.