Spišská Kapitula

Spišská Kapitula
Ecclesiastical Town
View of Spišská Kapitula from above
Country	Slovakia
Region	Prešov
District	Levoča
Municipality	Spišské Podhradie
Coordinates	49°00′N 20°45′E / 49.000°N 20.750°E / 49.000; 20.750Coordinates: 49°00′N 20°45′E / 49.000°N 20.750°E / 49.000; 20.750
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Name	Levoča, Spiš Castle and the associated cultural monuments
Year	1993 (#17)
Number	620
Region	Europe and North America
Criteria	iv
Location of Spišská Kapitula in Slovakia
Location of Spišská Kapitula in the Western part of the Prešov Region

Spišská Kapitula, (Hungarian: Szepeshely or Szepesi Káptalan)^[1] (both meaning the "Spiš Chapter house") is an exceptionally well-preserved ecclesiastical town on the outskirts of Spišské Podhradie, Slovakia, and overlooking Spiš Castle. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Levoča, Spiš Castle and the associated cultural monuments.

Town and history

The town consists of St. Martin's Cathedral (dedicated to St. Martin of Tours); a former monastery; and a single street, all of mediaeval construction and enclosed by a wall. The lower gate gives a spectacular view of Spiš Castle, located on an opposite hill.

Spišská Kapitula became the main seat of the church administration in the region in the 12th century. In 1776 it became the seat of the Diocese of Spiš (Szepes). (The present bishop, the 14th, is Mgr. Štefan Sečka).

The cathedral was built between the 13th and 15th centuries in the Romanesque and Gothic styles. It is one of the largest and most interesting Romanesque monuments in Slovakia. It contains many mediaeval carved altars and is the resting place of many lords of Spiš Castle; the 15th century carved marble tombstones of the Zápoľský family are of exceptional quality. A recently restored wall-painting from 1317 depicts the coronation of Charles Robert of Anjou as the King of Hungary; another painting in the cathedral is the source for the provisional name of the anonymous Master of Kirchdrauf.

Spišská Kapitula was visited by Pope John Paul II in 1995.

Images

• 
  View of main street with Spiš Castle
• 
  Bell tower
• 
  St. Martin's Cathedral
• 
  Entrance to the strengthened ecclesiastical unit

Cathedrals in Slovakia
Roman Catholic	St. Francis Xavier Cathedral (Banská Bystrica) St. Martin's Cathedral (Bratislava) St. Elisabeth Cathedral (Košice) St. Emmeram's Cathedral (Nitra) Our Lady of Sorrows Concathedral (Poprad) Saint Nicholas Concathedral (Prešov) Assumption of Mary Cathedral (Rožňava) St. Martin's Cathedral (Spišská Kapitula) St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Trnava) Holy Trinity Cathedral (Žilina)
Greek Catholic	Temple of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Bratislava) Temple of Birth of the Holy Mother of God (Košice) Temple of St. John the Baptist (Prešov)
Military Ordinariate	Trinitarian Church (Bratislava)

References

Citations

General references

• Horváth, Tibor (1999). Szlovákia (in Hungarian) (1st ed.). Budapest: Cartographia. ISBN 963-353-180-2. 

External links

• Detailed description of Spišská Kapitula