Basilica of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Basilica minor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is a Late Gothic three-nave Catholic church located in the town of Kežmarok in the Spiš region of eastern Slovakia.

The original parish church was constructed on the site of a previous, probably Romanesque chapel. Development of the city connected with the rapid growth of the population required a new church; the rebuilding began sometime in the first half of the fourteenth century (about 1320). According to modern research this church was 19m wide and about 41m long; the tower on west side and the east end of the sacristy gives us an idea about the size of the church after its first reconstruction. This church was comparable with the largest churches in Upper Hungary. On 25 April 1433 Hussites attacked the city. The following fire and an earthquake in 1443 heavily damaged the church.

The construction of a new Late Gothic church began in 1444. The reconstruction of the church was mainly financed by local noble family of Zápoľský. Some of the outer walls of the original church were preserved during the rebuilding. Reconstruction enlarged the basilica to the south and the east. The reconstruction started with the presbytery and then continued with the nave. The presbytery was mainly finished thanks to contributions from Zapolsky family, as demonstrated by the coats of arms carved above the main portal. The entrance portal was also added to the presbytery in 1486 and the main - south portal of the church was placed in 1498. This year is dated as the completion of Late Gothic reconstruction.

Later, after another fire in 1521, the tower was secured with a stone gallery (in 1525) and after the construction of the new Renaissance bell tower (1589-1591), the tower was adapted to Renaissance style with a new Renaissance attic. Then, the northern hall of the church was built, and the architectonical development of the church was completed. In the Reformation period the basilica was enriched with a canopy above the pulpit, organ, epitaphs, mortuary and wooden choirs in the side naves (removed after the church was taken over by the Catholics around 1670).

According to the visit of heads of the reformation church from 1709 and the visit from 1731, the church used to have 14 altars. Therefore, Protestants did not remove the altars, they just stopped using them, even though some of them have been damaged by crypto Calvinist chaplains of the Thököly family, which was one of the most important families in Kežmarok. In 1779, the church had only ten altars and in 1803 are described only five altars. Historian Juraj Bohuš wrote about ceiling paintings with images of apostles and church fathers around 1720. The restoration of the exterior of the church occurred in 1731. Subsequently, in 1804 local historian Christian Genersich mentioned stone arches that were painted emerald green, but most of the ceiling paintings were probably whitewashed during the repairs in 1754. Later the tombs of important people such as Catherine Tharcy - wife of the castle administrator Christopher Warkocz, and the castle lord - Hieronym Lasky (1496 – 1541) disappeared.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, the interest in heritage preservation increased. It was based on the romantic tendencies (purism - purity of styles). All Renaissance and Baroque altars were replaced with new Neo-Gothic altars. Using the same principle, those gothic parts of architecture that the renovators considered imperfect were also modified. The renovation of the interior in the Neo-Gothic style started in 1868, so instead of Baroque style altars were built new Neo-Gothic altars, which included parts of preserved original Gothic altars. The Main altar of the Holy Cross was also restored. After removing the original polychromatic pai

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