The Gothic church of Šamorín () is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

of the

Reformed Christian Church Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang *Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Alab ...

Šamorín Šamorín (; , ) is a small town in western Slovakia, southeast of Bratislava. Etymology The name is derived from a patron saint of a local church Sancta Maria, mentioned for the first time as ''villa Sancti Marie'' (1285). Today's name is an a ...

Dunajská Streda District Dunajská Streda District ( Slovak: ''Okres Dunajská Streda'', Hungarian: ''Dunaszerdahelyi járás'') is a district in the Trnava Region of western Slovakia. Until 1918, the district was mostly part of the county of Kingdom of Hungary of Pozs ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

Structure, shape and characteristic

The church is composed of three

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

s. It is .

History

The church was built in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

when Šamorín was a village. It was built on the banks of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

but the river's course changed. The eastern part of the church, an early

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

holy cave, was constructed in the first half of the thirteenth century. Its outer walls bear traces of the late reconstruction. This, and the supporting pillars, may have been the work of Bratislava's mayor Alexander's son Karol shortly after 1287. The holy cave was lit by five arched windows. Among these, only three east side windows are original, made in the first half of the 13th century. The two remaining windows on the south side were refurbished in the

style in the 15th century, then in the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style in the 18th century and, finally, enlarged in 1931. After reconstruction around 1290, the whole church was decorated with painted figures, which were later covered but were revealed again during restoration. There are also paintings of standing Saints, a depiction of

Holy Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

's death and Judging Jesus. The north side wing was built/rebuilt later, probably after some kind of a disaster, fire or possibly flood. The organ case dates from the second half of the 19th century. The wooden gate on the outside of the north hall was made in 1844; the altar was made of red marble in 1904.

Modern era

Modern buildings now surround the church, at the east end of the Bratislava's main streets.

Structure, shape and characteristic

History

Modern era

See also

References