The Church of the Virgin Mary is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church located in a minor square in

Senica Senica (; german: Senitz; hu, Szenice) is a town in Trnava Region, western Slovakia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the Záhorie lowland, close to the Little Carpathians. Etymology The name is derived from the word ''seno'' (" hay" ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

History

Built in 1631, it was originally intended as a Protestant place of worship, but became Catholic in 1654. A major construction makeover occurred a year later, in 1655. The tower of the church, located on the west side, had an upper stage in late Baroque added (1754–1788). Further changes took place in 1936 and 1949, the latter being in desperate need, due to damage caused during World War II. At this time, the church was renovated with a more contemporary style. The Church of the Virgin Mary is of a simple three-aisle design, with a plain, undecorated facade. The core of the church is enlivened by only four support pillars decorated with sloping roofs. In between are four rectangular windows with semicircular tops. The facade of the rearranged main entrance tower (not in use at this time) is horizontally decorated with

cornices In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and smaller rectangular windows. The dome, designed in quasi-Baroque style in 1959, was part of the reconstruction of the roof made in the beginning of the 20th century. It was covered by copper shingles in 1963. The Renaissance entry portal consists of an

edicule In ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (plural ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue,"aedicula, n." ...

and an upper shield in which its

coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...

are placed. The entry point is lined with

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

Gallery

Image:Kostol senica.jpg,

, Church of the Virgin Mary Image:Kostol_senica1.jpg,

, Church of the Virgin Mary tower Image:Kostol_senica2.jpg,

, Church of the Virgin Mary, street view

References

External links

Záhorie.info
Churches in Trnava Region 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Slovakia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1655 1655 establishments in Europe {{Slovakia-church-stub