The Reformation has a long and rich tradition in Necpaly, as in the Turiec in general. The first evangelical priest is documented in Necpaly as early as 1593. The local evangelicals used the old church of St. Ladislav until 1681, when the Sopron Assembly took place. The assembly confirmed the practice of taking churches from Protestants but allowed a maximum of two evangelical churches to be built in each area. They were subjected to strict restrictions.

In Turiec, these places were Necpaly and Ivančiná. Thus, a wooden articular church was built in Necpaly, serving evangelicals throughout the lower Turiec. The royal commissioner Jozef Erdédy determined the site for the construction of the church in 1689. When the Turz altar from Orava Castle reached Necpaly in 1752, this church underwent construction and the altar was ceremoniously installed in the extended church. The church was dismantled in 1835, at a time when the restrictions of the Sopron Assembly no longer applied and evangelicals could already build brick temples. The new building was made by the builder Teofil Kraus. Its completion was delayed until 1843 due to the tragic collapse of the vault at the altar. The tower was not added to the church until 1863 under the leadership of Daniel Čatloš of Liptovský Petr. The church was last renovated in 2002-2006.

The Evangelical Church is a monumental building, a dominant feature of the surrounding countryside. It is located in an isolated position on the outskirts of the village, on a hill, in the former garden of the Justov manor house. It has an unconventional orientation to northwest – southeast. The architecture of the church is characterized by the stylistic purity of classicism. The church is single-cell, with a rectangular floor plan. The church tower is recessed inside the church mass. The main façade of the church is divided by pilasters. The windows are decorated with shutters, terminated by a compressed arch. The tower is reinforced with pilasters with Ionic capitals. In place of the bell tower, the tower has a double window with a shutter. The helmet is bell-shaped, terminated by a lantern and a double cross.

In this church there is a unique altar Speculum Iustificationis, which is the center of the church in Necpaly, in 1611 it was created by Count Juraj Turzo for a chapel in Orava Castle. In 1752, the altar was transferred to the wooden articular church in Necpaly and from there to the current church, which was built in 1840. In the years 2003 – 2006, the altar paintings were restored.

The monumental wooden altar from the chapel at Orava Castle is remarkable in form and content. The appearance of the altar unit with nine paintings is based on an older graphic design from the workshop of the Nuremberg engraver and publisher Jost Amman, designed by the evangelical theologian Caspar Melissander. Smaller panel paintings on the fixed wings in the partition and the altarpiece depict biblical scenes.

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depict biblical scenes.

Part of the altarpiece of Turz’s altar is also depicted on the annual stamp issued to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the Žilina Synod in 1610, initiated by the palatine Juraj Turzo.

Photos Mário Veverka, Ján Farský
Text: faj
Source web obce Necpaly