A small village located in the flat center of the Turiec basin offers the visitor two pearls to admire. An exceptional natural monument and a unique historical monument.

Right on the southern edge of the village there is a magical lake – the most important spring lake in Slovakia. It is saturated with groundwater of the river Turiec. On its banks grow bog stands – sedges, reeds, alders, willows. This site has been a protected area since 1975.

In the center of the village stands the stone Roman Catholic Church of St. Barbara from the early 15th century. It is a simple single-nave building with a semicircular end of the presbytery and a tower forming part of its mass. According to some experts, the church could be built as early as the end of the 13th century.

The presbytery is vaulted with a six-part Gothic rib vault. The origin of the church truss was dendrochronologically determined until the years 1507-1508. It is supposed to be the oldest preserved truss in the Turiec region. The small church became famous mainly thanks to the late Gothic winged altar of St. Anne and St. Barbora from 1517. It was created by combining wooden sculptures of domestic production and panel paintings by several authors from the German Danube region. The sculptures and relief are exceptional mainly for master carving. Unfortunately, the wooden sculpture of St. Anne with a child in her arms, statues of St. Mary and two statues were stolen from the winged altar. Early Renaissance murals from the first half of the 16th century were uncovered in the interior. Inscriptions and drawings from the modern era were also discovered and presented on the walls.

In 1517 the church was rebuilt. Another change took place around 1730, when a wooden emporium was placed in the nave, expanding the capacity of the church. The church has been preserved in its original form without later construction interventions. Late Gothic two-part tracery windows have been preserved on the south wall of the nave and sanctuary. The Church of St. Barbara is a National Cultural Monument.

Photos: Mário Veverka
Text: faj
Source: Internet