There are many beautiful places to visit in Slovakia. This Central European country offers plenty of interesting choices in terms of sights. Today I would like to take you to the city, I personally believe to be one of the underrated gems of Slovakia. Today I would like to talk about one day in Levoca in Presov region of Eastern Slovakia.
Some fantastic facts about Levoca:
- The world’s highest wooden altar is found in local St. James church
- Levoca has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2009
- In the medieval times being a free royal borough Levoca traded with Krakow, the Hanseatic towns and with Venice
Let’s start our walk, shall we?
Levoca is a walled city and that’s really cool. It places this Slovak city to the equal foot with the likes of Bruges and Dubrovnik:
Upon entrance you see the beautiful Baroque Church of the Holy Spirit:
Being in the Levoca Old Town you can really feel the medieval vibe:
The main square is typical for the majority of Slovak cities – it is one big and wide street where all the monuments are located:
Actually it is one of the biggest medieval squares in Central Europe:
Here you can spend hours looking at the beautiful houses. Like this one, for instance:
That’s a Thurzo house
“This Renaissance palace was built in the 15th century and was owned by one of the leading Hungarian magnate families – Thurzo family”
The true highlights of Levoca are those two buildings:
First one in the back is a St. James church from the 14th century, which is one of the most important sacral buildings in Slovakia
“The Late Gothic wooden main altar of St. James with the height of 18.6 m is the highest of its kind in the world. It was made of lime wood in 1507-1517 in the workshop of Maestro Pavol of Levoca. Maestro Pavol is said to have depicted himself as one of the statues of the twelve apostles in the exquisite composition of the Last Supper scene in the altar`s predella.”
The second building is the Old Town Hall:
It is one of the most preserved and prominent buildings of secular Renaissance architecture in Slovakia
Here’s a street view:
In other words, Levoca is one of the most picturesque and charming destinations in Slovakia and it is waiting for you to start exploring its secrets!
Thank you for reading!
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Pavlo is an experienced travel writer published by CNN, BBC, The Guardian, The Independent, The Irish Times, Time Out, DK Eyewitness and Lonely Planet. He’s been writing about Poland for 9+ years.