The
Articular church in Kežmarok ( sk, Artikulárny kostol v Kežmarku) is a wooden church in
Kežmarok,
Slovakia. The local
Lutherans built it following a period of religious persecution, when in 1681 the Congress of
Sopron permitted Lutherans, in articles 26 and 27 of an agreement, to erect two churches in each of eleven counties of the Kingdom of Hungary, nine of which are in present-day Slovakia. The churchers were to be made of the cheapest possible materials - this meant wood; even nails were made exclusively of wood. The construction was financially supported by Protestants from various countries, including
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and
Denmark.
The only stone part of the church is its
sacristy
A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records.
The sacristy is usually located ...
, originally built in 1593 as a pub outside the city walls. In the 17th century, the
Roman Catholic dynasty of
Habsburgs
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
persecuted Protestantism in the
Habsburg monarchy
The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...
, which included territory of present Slovakia at that time. The number of churches was limited to one in each
free royal town, Kežmarok being one of them. The construction material had to be the cheapest possible (wood at that time) and a church had to be completed in 365 days. Furthermore, the site of a new Protestant church had to be chosen by a royal commission. In Kežmarok, a royal commission deliberately chose an ancient pub as a place of worship, in order to humiliate the local Protestant community.
The pub was subsequently incorporated into a hastily constructed religious building as a sacristy.
The oldest parts are an
epitaph from 1688 and a
Renaissance baptistery from 1690. They are the only remaining parts of the first church. The second wooden church, erected in the
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
style in 1717, completely replaced the first building. It has the shape of an equal-armed
Greek cross. The space can accommodate 1,541 worshipers. According to a legend, circular windows were made by Swedish sailors contributing to the construction.
The
organ
Organ may refer to:
Biology
* Organ (biology), a part of an organism
Musical instruments
* Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone
** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument
** Hammond ...
, completed in 1729, is known for its perfect sound despite having only wooden pipes.
The church has been protected by the state as an important historical monument since 1892.
In 1985, the
Slovak National Council (parliament) proclaimed it a National Historical Monument. An expensive reconstruction followed in the 1990s.
The church is one of only five Lutheran wooden churches remaining in Slovakia. The others are situated in
Hronsek
Hronsek ( hu, Garamszeg) is a village and municipality of the Banská Bystrica District in the Banská Bystrica Region of Slovakia.
History
In historical records, the village was first mentioned in 1500, and it has changed its name many tim ...
,
Istebné
Istebné ( hu, Isztebne) is a village and municipality in Dolný Kubín District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.
See also
* List of municipalities and towns in Slovakia
This is an alphabetical list of the 2,891 Obec, obcí (singula ...
,
Leštiny
Leštiny ( hu, Lestin) is a village and municipality in Dolný Kubín District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.
The village contains an Evangelical wooden church constructed in 1688-89 by local carpenters.Svätý Kríž
Svätý Kríž ( hu, Szentkereszt, Szent Kereszt or Liptószentkereszt) is a village and municipality in Liptovský Mikuláš District in the Žilina Region of northern Slovakia.
History
In historical records the village was first mentioned in ...
near
Liptovská Mara.
Slovak Heritage
/ref>
Notes and sources
Notes
Sources
*Baráthová, Nora (2003),
Historické objekty: Drevený artikulárny kostol
' (in Slovak), Kezmarok town website (in WebArchive).
*Porubän, Roman (2022), ''Die Hölzerne Artikulatkirche'', Kežmarok: Jadro
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kezmarok articular church
Churches completed in 1717
18th-century Lutheran churches
Wooden churches
Lutheran churches in Slovakia
Churches in Prešov Region
Wooden buildings and structures in Slovakia
18th-century churches in Slovakia
1717 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy
18th-century establishments in Hungary
Spiš