Kežmarok

Few kilometres from the beautiful High Tatras continuing always to the east ( nort-east) of Slovakia you will find a town worth of your visit – Kežmarok. Few tips what to see in Kežmarok:

Castle Kežmarok

The castle /Thökoly château/ belongs to the so-called town castles. It was built directly on the territory of town to protect the town from enemies. Building the castle is connected with the family Zápoľský. The castle was mentioned for the first time in the year 1463 and in the year 1528 became a property of the Polish noble family Laský. The castle was acquired unlawfully by the family Thökoly in the year 1579. Four generations of this family lived in the castle till the year 1684. During this time the Thökoly family rebuilt the originally gothic forth into distinguish renaissance residence. During the years 1657-1658 the chapel was built to the castle.

The family Thökoly- especially the Hungarian patriot Imrich Thökoly- was in opposition to the politics of the Habsburgs. After the defeat in the fight against the Habsburgs and after the departure to Turkey the family lost all their property.

The town got the castle from its last owner Ferdinand Rueber in the year 1702. The castle was used for different purposes, for example a storehouse. During the second half of 19th century the decision was made to open the museum in the castle, which was declassified in the year 1931.

Today the whole area is a town museum with different expositions which give evidence of the historical development since its beginning to the 20th century.

 

 

Basilica Minor- Basilica of the Holy Cross

The Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Cross in Kežmarok is one of the largest three-nave gothic churches in the Spiš region. Although the foundations date back to the Romanesque time of the 13 th century, the present late gothic church was reconstructed in the years 1444-1498 by the Zápolya family.  It is known for its valuable altar from the late gothic period considered to be one of the first works of Master Paul of Levoča.

 

Wooden Articular Church of Holy Trinity

Only five of the 38 wooden articular churches built in Slovakia survived the ravages of time. One of them is in Kežmarok. They received the name articular after articles adopted at congress in Hungary´s Sopron in 1681 at which Protestants gained some freedoms including the right to build churches.