Wooden churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian mountain area
UNESCO Cultural Heritage Sites
These sacred wooden buildings of north-east Slovakia are precious rustic constructions, many of which have now been designated national cultural monuments. They are one of the most distinctive features of the Carpathian landscape, offering a spiritual and cultural message to the Slovak, Ruthenian and Ukrainian ethnic groups living there.
In the Prešov region these are churches both of the Eastern and the Western liturgical tradition, and can be found in the districts of Bardejov, Humenné, Prešov, Snina, Stará Ľubovňa and Svidník.
In the region there is a total of 26 wooden churches, of which the following four have been selected for inclusion on the UNESCO list (2008):
- the Roman Catholic church of Francis of Assisi in Hervartov (1500);
- the Protestant articular church in Kežmarok (1717);
- the Greek Catholic church of St. Nicholas in Bodružal (1658)
- and the Greek Catholic Church of Archangel Michael in Ladomirová (1742).
Exactly those have met strict UNESCO criteria such as: authenticity, to serve its purpose, to locate on the original place, the state of the interior equiment, the integrity of the monuments not to be changed by reconstructions and to have the representation of different religions.
