Church of Holy Cross, Hamuliakovo
The original building on the site of today’s church was a polygonal octagonal rotunda, which is believed to have been built around 1220. For its time, it was an exceptional representative building of unknown purpose.
After about 40 years (around 1260), the situation in the village changed and the rotunda was expanded into the current single-nave church with a western tower. After the western walls were demolished, the rotunda became the sanctuary of the new building.
Further reconstructions followed in the Baroque period and later in the 19th century. At that time, a rectangular sacristy was added to the north side of the presbytery. In 1934, the original entrance to the tower from the south side was bricked up and a new one was created from the west.
The harmonious proportions of the church are considered a beautiful example of Romanesque architecture. In addition to the decoration, the unusually high interior of the nave and sanctuary also testify to the representativeness of the church.
The tower of the church is tilted approximately 70 cm to the north, probably due to the sandy soil and waterlogging of the foundations during floods in the past. It features grouped windows on three levels, which is unique in Slovakia.
The interior features preserved wall paintings from the late 13th century. The sanctuary depicts Jesus Christ in a mandorla and symbols of the evangelists on the vault, while the upper part of the walls features figures of the apostles with remnants of inscription bands. In the band below them, only very fragmentary paintings have been preserved.
On the inner side of the triumphal arch, there are half-figures of prophets complemented by decorative bands with plant motifs, and below them, a painting of what appears to be a bishop with praying figures of donors at his feet (on the left side) and two figures in nuns’ habits (on the right).
On the eastern wall of the nave, on either side of the triumphal arch, there are scenes of the Flagellation of Christ, St. Catherine, and probably Christ the Suffering. On the northern wall of the nave, remnants of the Ladislaus legend have been preserved. On the western wall of the nave, in the gallery area, there is a painting of Christ crucified on the so-called Living Tree.
Galéria
