Brezany wooden church - Sabinov - Spiska Kapitula - Spis Castle

Route: Kosice - Brezany wooden church - Sabinov - Spiska Kapitula - Spis Castle - Kosice
Duration: 8 h
Firstly we will make a short stop at the Greek Catholic wooden church of St Lucas the Evangelist from 1727. It consists of three parts and its architecture is atypical. This log structure bears traits of the Gothic Roman Catholic architecture. The independent tower standing apart from the nave is typical. It is one of the oldest wooden churches in Slovakia. The main altar from 1782 is in the Baroque style. Iconostas of this church is even older (1733). Next we will visit to the town of Sabinov which received town privileges in 1299. In 1405 Sabinov was promoted to free royal city, and this fact earned it a range of other privileges. At the end of the 15th century Sabinov became a member of Pentopolitany – the association of five eastern towns including Košice, Prešov, Bardejov and Levoča. Sabinov still takes pride in well-preserved historic core surrounded by remnants of the medieval town walls. Its dominant features are the Town Hall and the Gothic Church of St. John the Baptist from the beginning of the 14th century. The most valuable is the main altar, the original of which is located in the National Museum in Budapest and comes from the workshop of Master Pavol of Levoča. Beside the church there is a renaissance building of the former evangelical lyceum from 1530. Next we will visit to the ecclesiastic town Spišská Kapitula is sometimes also referred to as the “Slovak Vatican”. Church life not only  in the Chapter of Spiš was organised from here by the bishops, provosts, and canonists. The town, along with other monuments around the Spiš Castle, is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The most important building of Spišská Kapitula is the Late-Romanesque St Martins Cathedral. It acquired its massive form of a three-nave building with two towers in the years 1245 – 1275. In 1382, a Corpus Christi chapel was added to it, though it was replaced by the contemporary one in the years 1488 – 1493. This chapel of the Zápoľský family imitates the French chapel of Saint Chapelle.  The cathedral has particularly valuable interior, especially the Gothic altars, statues, tomb stones, chalices, bells, etc. Fresco paintings from 1317; portray the coronation ceremony of the King Charles Robert. Inside of the cathedral you will also find the oldest known Roman-style sculpture in Slovakia - Leo Albus. The Bishop's Palace was built together with the Cathedral as a provosts palace. In the past, there used to be a French park around the palace and its entrance was next to the Clock Tower from 1739. Next we will visit to the Spiš Castle which is one of the largest and most visited castles in Central Europe.  Being such a unique structure, Spiš Castle is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As a part of the tour of the castle, you get to see Spiš Museum’s interesting expositions focused primarily on historical weaponry. The castle is subject to several legends. According to one of them the castle is haunted by the White Lady, the castle lord’s sister. It is said she was taken in by an insidious vagrant bard who kidnapped her young charge Barborka. When the lord of the castle located the girl and returned home with her, he found his grief-stricken sister lying dead beneath the castle walls. After we will return to Kosice.
Price: per person