A Roman Catholic church, built in 1377 in Gothic style, expanded in the 17th century and rebuilt in Baroque style at the beginning of the 18th century (its vaulting gained stucco decoration at this time). The sanctuary was restored in Gothic style in 1877, with an archaic Madonna statue from the 14th century. The church’s interior is appointed in Baroque style.
The church and its parish were first mentioned in a 1332 papal decree. The parish’s re-independence (Záhorská Bystrica was a branch of Stupava for a time) was linked to the settlement of the Croatian ethnic minority. The church’s construction in 1534 can also be explained by the rapid growth in population. The St Peter’s Chapel was converted into a larger church, and its patronage was extended to St Paul. The construction of a new, large-scale parish church began at the end of the 18th century. This was consecrated by the suffragan bishop of Esztergom in 1834. The Church of the Apostles St Peter and St Paul is a single-naved building with Baroque and Classicist style marks, enclosed by a rectangular apse. The nave is 20.8 metres long, 10.7 metres wide, with three Prussian mitred vaulting panes forming the roof, whose beam structure is supported by double pilasters topped with corniced chapiters while the corners rest upon broken pillar chapiters. The gallery built along the western wall of the church’s nave is supported by two columns. The nave’s interior is illuminated by six large windows while there are four stained-glass windows in the apse. The apse is 10.46 metres long, 8.3 metres side and 15 metres high and its floor is one step higher than the nave. The floor of the church’s interior is covered by obliquely laid, square split-stone slabs. The defining elements of the central, gilded tabernacle of the altar are wooden carvings depicting the apostles St Peter and St Paul. There is a statue of St Wendel on the left and one of St Florian on the right. The relief depicting the events of the life of the Virgin Mary on both sides of the tabernacle and the reliefs below the altar stone depicting the High Priest Melchizedek and his son Isaac offering up their sacrifice to Abraham also merit attention. The pulpit dating from 1927 is located on the left side of the chancel arch. This is the work of the Tyrolean Master Rungaldier and depicts the four evangelists along with their attributes.
The St John the Baptist’s Church – today’s Ivanian Church – is sequentially the third in the village. The first was built by Cyrillic and Methodius pupils – it was a simple wooden chapel. The second church (whose foundation is unknown) was constructed in 1730. It was built from stone with a wooden chancel. The foundations of this second church were discovered when the foundation was being dug for the balusters of the current expanded chancel.The foundations for today’s church were laid in 1770. It took two years to build the tower. The tower’s clock came from Vienna in 1880 and the organ was added in 1906. The roof structure of the tower had to be rebuilt in 1991.Documents significant to the time were stored in the orb below the cross – closed in a time capsule as a message to the future inhabitants of Ivanka pri Dunaji.
The church was built in 1814 and is one of the churches constructed by the Lutheran Church of the Apostolic Confession following the Tolerance Decree of 1781. It bears the marks of the ancient ideals of art, meaning a return to the strict order of Classicism. It is characterised by a longitudinal floor plan and an atypically positioned altar for the age, i.e. located opposite the main entrance, in the middle of the longitudinal wall. On the opposite site, facing the parsonage’s courtyard, there is a semi-circular sacristy with an entrance for the minister. Above the main entrance, which could not have opened to the street at that time, there is a small onion-domed tower topped with a double cross.
Following its restoration as a monument, the small Hamuliakovo Romanesque church has retained its human, down-to-earth scale, characteristic of Romanesque sacral architecture. The balanced structure of the church building and its interior creates a unique, harmonious impression, making the Church of the Holy Cross one of the most important monuments to Romanesque sacral architecture in southern Slovakia.13. Ivanka pri Dunaji – St John the Baptist’s ChurchThe St John the Baptist’s Church – today’s Ivanian Church – is sequentially the third in the village. The first was built by Cyrillic and Methodius pupils – it was a simple wooden chapel. The second church (whose foundation is unknown) was constructed in 1730. It was built from stone with a wooden chancel. The foundations of this second church were discovered when the foundation was being dug for the balusters of the current expanded chancel.The foundations for today’s church were laid in 1770. It took two years to build the tower. The tower’s clock came from Vienna in 1880 and the organ was added in 1906. The roof structure of the tower had to be rebuilt in 1991.Documents significant to the time were stored in the orb below the cross – closed in a time capsule as a message to the future inhabitants of Ivanka pri Dunaji.
The Roman Catholic church stands in the middle of the village. It was built according to the plans of István Elefánty in an archaic style with neo-Romanesque touches, largely along the lines of and reminiscent of the small, old Romanesque church which still stood in the village at that time but was the demolished in 1936. The church was constructed between 1927 and 1929, and was realised thanks to the donations of believers, contributions by institutions and the voluntary work of the locals. Its ceremonial consecration took place in 1930.
St Martin’s Church is actually the village’s cultural historical centre. Already in existence in 1397, its original Gothic building was rebuilt in Renaissance style in the 16th century. The altarpiece depicting St Martin, which was created by Martin Benka in 1930 merits attention. Kostolište’s celebrated native son is considered one of the defining artists of 20th-century Slovakian art. His life and work are shown in the village in the Martin Benka Memorial Room.
The Holy Stairs are located in the Franciscan Order’s Immaculate Conception Church. The construction of the Holy Stairs Chapel was ordered by Pál Pálffy together with the construction of the monastery. There are Holy Stairs in three places in the world: the stairs of the original Pretorium of Pilate, which Jesus ascended, were taken to Rome. Copies of these can be seen in Jerusalem and in Malacky. The latter consists of twenty-seven steps, into which the relics of St Deterius, St Valentine and St Beatrix were placed.
When the Balassa family line died out in 1621, Malacky came into the Pálffy family’s possession. Pál Pálffy’s (IV) forceful re-catholicisation in the area, including ordering the construction of the Franciscan monastery and church with its underground crypts. The monastery was given to the Franciscans in 1653. The church still had no altar, organ or pulpit at this time, so it was only consecrated in December 1660 by Csanád (Chanad) bishop, Tamás Pálffy. The church is connected to the monastery by both corridors and the gallery. The church’s nave is Baroque in style. It is girded by chapels at the sides and closed in the front by the sanctuary where the main altar is located. An epitaph of Miklós Pálffy (V) is situated on the left of the sanctuary, created in his memory by his grandchildren, Lipót, Miklós and Rudolf. Johann Nikolaus Moll is named as the work’s creator. When entering the church, every visitor is stopped in their tracks by the stunning 18th-century, carved wooden high altar, which is painted and richly gilded. Like the church, the altar was also consecrated in the honour of the immaculate conception. This is also evidenced by the central motif of the rear, decorative part – a larger than life-size statue of the Virgin Mary (the immaculate conception).
A Gothic single-naved church, which was expanded in neo-Romanesque style in 1910. Some details of Gothic stone fragments, certain architectural elements, murals and the 14th-century baptismal font have survived. A painted wooden cross was erected in the churchyard in 1933.
The history of St Martin’s Church in Podunajské Biskupice dates back to 1221.
All its early Baroque fittings preserved in their entirety – the high altar and the two side altars as well as the pulpit – date back to the second half of the 17th century and are considered a unique collection of sacred objects with respect to Bratislava. Its original character was partially modified at the end of the 19th century when the altar sculptures were restored (Karl Kohanner, Johann Kätzer) and the pictures on the high altar and the two side altars were replaced. The columnar, pedestalled altars are made of black polychrome wood and are decorated with white and gold palmette, acanthus and stylised plant motifs.
St Stephen the King’s Roman Catholic Church was originally built as a fortress church in the middle of the 14th century. The earliest information in surviving chronicles indicate that it already existed in 1390. It was later redesigned and expanded many times. A chapel was added at the beginning of the 18th century while in 1764 the Pálffys renovated it so extensively that only one of the original building was left. The church’s size has changed a lot; expanded with side wings, the northern chapel was attached to the church hall along with a southern chapel. The works were completed in 1767, when the church was consecrated. Close to the parsonage, there is also another important sacral building – the Baroque chapel and Calvary built between 1709 and 1713. The Holy Trinity Column in front of the church dates back to the mid-18th century.
The Church of St Margaret of Antioch was consecrated on 2 October 1898. It was built in an archaic style with Romanesque elements according to the plans of Ján Nepomuk Bobula, a Budapest architect of Slovak origin.
The church is one of the oldest historical monuments in Svätý Jur. The towerless Gothic building dates back to the last quarter of the 13th century. The elevated presbytery and the underground chapel beneath it prove that the Gothic church was built upon the foundations of an older sacral building from the Romanesque era. The St George’s altar is its most significant item from an art history perspective. It was made from white sandstone in Stefan Pilgrim’s workshop in 1527 and combines figural elements with plant motifs. It depicts the life of St George while the altar represents a transition between the Gothic style and the Renaissance. It was last restored in 1992.28. Bratislava - Záhorská Bystrica – Church of the Apostles St Peter and St PaulThe church and its parish were first mentioned in a 1332 papal decree. The parish’s re-independence (Záhorská Bystrica was a branch of Stupava for a time) was linked to the settlement of the Croatian ethnic minority. The church’s construction in 1534 can also be explained by the rapid growth in population. The St Peter’s Chapel was converted into a larger church, and its patronage was extended to St Paul. The construction of a new, large-scale parish church began at the end of the 18th century. This was consecrated by the suffragan bishop of Esztergom in 1834. The Church of the Apostles St Peter and St Paul is a single-naved building with Baroque and Classicist style marks, enclosed by a rectangular apse. The nave is 20.8 metres long, 10.7 metres wide, with three Prussian mitred vaulting panes forming the roof, whose beam structure is supported by double pilasters topped with corniced chapiters while the corners rest upon broken pillar chapiters. The gallery built along the western wall of the church’s nave is supported by two columns. The nave’s interior is illuminated by six large windows while there are four stained-glass windows in the apse. The apse is 10.46 metres long, 8.3 metres side and 15 metres high and its floor is one step higher than the nave. The floor of the church’s interior is covered by obliquely laid, square split-stone slabs. The defining elements of the central, gilded tabernacle of the altar are wooden carvings depicting the apostles St Peter and St Paul. There is a statue of St Wendel on the left and one of St Florian on the right. The relief depicting the events of the life of the Virgin Mary on both sides of the tabernacle and the reliefs below the altar stone depicting the High Priest Melchizedek and his son Isaac offering up their sacrifice to Abraham also merit attention. The pulpit dating from 1927 is located on the left side of the chancel arch. This is the work of the Tyrolean Master Rungaldier and depicts the four evangelists along with their attributes.
The church, a Gothic building dating from the 11th century, is the oldest monument in the village. It was modified between 1764 and 1773 and rebuilt in 1952/53. The church was consecrated in the honour of St Stephen the King. The original Romanesque elements of the building were revealed during the renovation and then made visible. There is a Romanesque baptismal font next to the church.
The Church of the Apostles St Philip and St James, together with the original and the current cemetery, has served the village (previously two separate villages) for centuries. The church stands outside its inhabited area, on an artificial hill, probably a mound from the time of the Hallstatt era (i.e. the early Iron Age). The Romanesque Church of the Apostles St Philip and St James is a brick sacral building. There are many examples of such buildings dating from the late 12th century in what is now southern Slovakia. A traditionally laid out church with one nave culminating in a sanctuary on its eastern side. The original ceiling of the nave has not survived and is covered today by a renovated wooden ceiling supported by beams. The nave’s murals show scenes depicting Archangel Michael whereas the sanctuary’s wall has scenes depicting St Catherine. The remaining murals only represent a fraction of the church’s 14th century contiguous decoration, but together with the baptismal font, they still define the appearance of its interior. A fragment of the former main entrance to the church dating from the 14th century has been preserved. This can now be seen on the western side of the nave. A statue of the Madonna evokes the Baroque age. This church has evolved constantly over the centuries. Fortunately, its original, medieval foundation and architectural and history of architecture aspects have remained unchanged. Research, including archaeological excavations, has provided an accurate picture of the building’s development over time.
All Saints Church, the village’s current church, was built in 1722 on the site of an earlier, smaller church which was destroyed by fire. It was consecrated on the second Sunday in October 1748. The original church was first mentioned in sources dating from 1333. The current church is the largest, oldest and most beautiful building in the village.
The Roman Catholic church is the oldest, most important built monument in the village. It is first mentioned in a donation letter dated 1333, which divided the Plavecký štvrtok estate between two brothers from the Hont-Pázmány clan, Peter and Sebus (II). The part of the village where the church stands ended up in Peter’s hands. The church reflects the spirit of the age: it had to be something that did not yet exist elsewhere. At the same time, it is characterised by the strict symmetry of the Roman Catholic churches of the era – an oriented church, meaning that the main nave, the tower and the altar were oriented towards the east. The arches and vaulting are typical of the early Gothic era (1150 and subsequently), thus less bold and more rounded. The walls of the main nave, on which the vaulted ceiling rests, were built of brick and laid out with stone. This was one way in which to increase the load-bearing capacity of the walls without increasing their thickness. The load of the vaulting is partially borne by buttresses placed at regular intervals along the outer girth of the church. Following its late-18th-century reconstruction, the church was consecrated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
It was built at the beginning of the 14th century, probably on the site of an earlier 13th-century Romanesque church or chapel. Originally, there was no tower. The church’s patrons were the Counts of Szentgyörgyi and Bazini, as also shown by their coats of arms on the vaulting. The church’s vaulting was only built in the 15th century, in late Gothic style, following the example of St Vitus Cathedral in Prague. The most valuable element of its furnishings is the early Renaissance pulpit dating from 1523. Its baptismal font, carved from red marble and dated to Count György Bazini in 1426, his red marble epitaph and István Illésházy’s burial chapel are also worthy of attention. The church came into the possession of the Capuchins in 1674. It ended up in the hands of the Lutherans at the time of the Rákóczi uprising in the early 18th century. The high altar is the work of Stefan Steinmassler, who mastered his craft in the Bratislava workshop of Ludwig Gode, the acolyte of Georg Rafael Donner, the most famous transalpine sculptor of the age. The altarpiece depicting the Ascension of the Virgin Mary was created in 1789. In 1863, the Slovak master organ builder, Martin Šaško, made a new instrument for the church.