Kostol Ducha Svätého / Church of the Holy Spirit - Žehra (North-East Slovakia)
N 48° 58.721 E 020° 47.574
34U E 484845 N 5425106
Late Romanesque Church of the Holy Spirit (Kostol Ducha Svätého), built in 1245–1275, belongs among the most precious cultural monuments of Spiš region of Slovakia. Listed as a World Heritage Site in 1993.
Waymark Code: WMWZ1A
Location: Košický kraj, Slovakia
Date Posted: 11/02/2017
Views: 3
Late Romanesque Church of the Holy Spirit (Kostol Ducha Svätého), built in 1245–1275, belongs among the most precious cultural monuments of Spiš region of Slovakia. Listed as a World Heritage Site in 1993 (Levoca, Spišský Hrad and the Associated Cultural Monuments).
Village of Žehra hides one of the worlds most unique objects in the form of an enchanting late double-nave Romanesque church. Church, dedicated to the Holy Spirit, was built in 1245–1275.
Only the Romanesque sanctuary vault remains from the original, single-nave church. The nave had a wooden, square-paneled ceiling, but it burned down during the second half of the 15th century. After the fire, another vault was constructed, supported by an octagonal pillar, and from that time the church has had a double nave. This architectonic peculiarity is typical of several churches in the Spiš region, and as such may be considered as being unique in the world. The interior furnishings are mainly Baroque.The construction of the Baroque onion dome of the church tower that completes its unrepeatable silhouette was completed in 1769.
The biggest treasure of the church is constituted by rich frescoes covering all presbytery, triumphal arch and northern wall. Frescoes are placed chronologically and they represent comprehensive iconographic programme. The frescoes were preserved because after an outbreak of plague in the 17th century, the interior of the church was covered with lime plaster for disinfection. They were discovered again in the 1950s when the lime was removed using cottage cheese - effective for this purpose because it contains casein. In the vault of triumphal arch there are placed medailons with busts of prophets and Hungarian kings, St. Stephen and Ladislaus, authors of the ecclesiastic organization in the Kingdom of Hungary.
Church of the Holy Spirit is a parish church of Žehra Roman Catholic parish.
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