Levoca, Slovakia
When faced with a roadmap of a country that you're visiting for the first time, it's pretty difficult to know which are the best places to stop off at. Of course, that's what guidebooks are for, but they can be pretty dense reading. I should have done more advance research to find good places for walking and sightseeing but, well, I hadn't!
After half our 6-day stay in Slovakia was washed out by rain, we had to make the most of the other 3 days. We'd realised that Spis Castle was an outstanding place to visit, and so it was, but after our walk up and around the castle we still hadn't had lunch! Where to go next?
We might have visited the historic religious complex at Spisska Kapitula nearby, if I'd spotted it in the Lonely Planet guide, but we'd already driven past the medieval walls of Levoca on the way from Poprad and that prompted me to read about it in the book. Once the new E50 is completed, drivers won't pass as close by, so it's as well to know that it's worth the detour.
It was about 1 pm by the time we drove through the gateway into the town, which was on the right and a pretty obvious turning from the through-road. Almost immediately we were driving through the main square with a line of impressive buildings on the right and a small area of parkland to the left. Just beyond, we found a side-street where we could park.
By now it was sunny and warm and the town centre looked delightful and surprisingly quiet. However, just as we walked onto the main street beside the square (Nova) we were swept up in a parade of cars with their horns blaring. We soon realised that a wedding was about to get under way at the church just along to the right, which turned out to be the famous Church of St James that we would visit later.
We saw people getting out of the cars and walking along to the church in all their wedding finery, and decided it was best to walk in the opposite direction!
We passed the Hotel Satel on the left, then the tourist information centre, but we could already see a restaurant sign along the street ahead which led off the square (the Lonely Planet guide incorrectly positions this on the next street a block away to the west). It was a pizzeria, and had a couple of tables squeezed into a space on the pavement outside. That was fine for us - we were hungry and the service was quick and friendly.
Looking down the street to the north we could see the town wall just 50 metres or so away, and then a green hill with a chapel on the top. Checking the guidebook, this turned out to be the Church of Marianska Hora, 2km away. Reading on, it said that on the first weekend in July up to a quarter of a million pilgrims arrive for a Marian Pilgrimage! The quiet town of Levoca must be transformed for the weekend. Presumably it would make a pleasant walk to climb to the church at other times, although we didn't try it.
After lunch we had a short walk, starting by going down the street to the town wall. It wasn't a particularly imposing section although maybe it would have been better from the outside looking up. The wall which we had driven past on the east side had looked in better condition and quite impressive.
We turned left up the next street, past a mix of houses on either side. The lower houses to the right seemed to be simpler, moving away from the centre of town.
The next turning left took us back into the town square, which we crossed over through the small park. A statue of a notable looked across the wide road towards the line of fine buildings along the north side of the square. When we reached the east side, we walked past more dazzling architecture with a couple of bars at the ground level. The guidebook says that No 7 is Thurzov House, dating from 1532, and No 20 is devoted to the town's famous sculptor, Master Pavol.
Catriona and I were keen to see the altar which he had created in 1517, but first we had to wait for the wedding party to vacate the Church of St James. Then we had to buy admission tickets from the little office across from the church doorway. Once inside, it didn't take us long to spot the main attraction - a towering altar glittering with gold and divided into panels, with the Madonna and Child and the Last Supper. At 18m high and 6m wide it is claimed to be the largest alterpiece in the world!
It was flanked by other smaller finely decorated panels. It was all very impressive and I'm sure if I'd known more about medieval art I'd have been in ecstasy! We were told not to take photos, so you'll have to go and see it for yourself. Unlike the Church of St Peter and Paul we visited a few days later in Krakow with its plastered interior, the walls were of plain stonework, rising high about the artwork.
We went out to find the rest of the family sitting in the shade in the little park. They were ready to go back to Aqua City to cool off in the pool. I just had time to stop off for a couple of photos of the splendid Town Hall, close by to the south of the church. This houses the Spis Museum with a collection of folk dresses and other local items.
So we really just had a taster of Levoca. You can see that if you allowed longer for the visit, there's plenty to take up a day in and around the town. There must be shops as well, which we missed, as well as the museums and the walk up the hill to the Church of Marianska Hora.
More about Levoca
This is what it says on an information panel in the park in the town centre:
Levoca was founded in the place of the Slavonic settlements after the Tatar invasion in 1242. It was declared the capital of the province of the Spis Saxons by the king Stefan V in 1271. The economic development of the town was influenced by the advantageous position on the important trade route and by the granted privileges, the most important of which was the stock right. In the 14th and 15th centuries there was immense capital accumulated in Levoca and the town became the Central European trading centre. The riches of the burghers of the royal free town can be pointed out by the well-preserved extensive construction of the sacral representative, fortification and apartment buildings, the development of the guilds and the flourishing cultural life. The name of the significant artistic personality of Master Paul - the author of the highest Gothic altar in the world in the church of St James, is connected with Levoca.
The development of the town was impeded in the 16th to 18th centuries as a result of anti-aristocratic uprisings and the Turkish expansion.
(I only got part of the final paragraph, it looks like it says that Levoca became the administrative centre of Spis county and it has had an important role in the renaissance of the Slovak nation).
Contributed by Andrew Llanwarne - September 2008
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