Wooden churches

The wooden Greek Catholic church of St. Michael the Archangel, 1742, NKP

    The wooden Greek Catholic church in Ladomirová belongs to the most precious architectural and most representative eastern rite churches in Slovakia. It was built in 1742, and dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. The village, rectory, church and some precious icons from the iconostasis were vastly damaged during WWII. The church was restored in 1946, but already in 1957 the church was damaged again by a storm. It was repaired in 1958.
    From an architectural point of view this church has a rustic structure. The tower has a columned structure. The church has three parts, three spaces, three towers and three crosses. Each tower has the shape of an onion dome. The entrance is from the western part through narthex.
    The iconostasis has architecture of five rows with icons displayed on five levels. It is dated to the middle of the 18th century. The deacon doors are not set with leaves. The royal, two leafed, doors have six medallions (four Evangelists and the Annunciation). The first (main row) contains the icons of St. Nicholas, Theotokos (Hodigitria) with a crown, Christ the Teacher and St. Michael the Archangel – patron of the church. The second row is the row of feasts with the icon of the Last (Mystical) Supper in the middle. The third, so called apostolic row, contains the icons of individual apostles and is divided in the middle by the icon of Christ the High Priest. The fourth row of prophets consists of six medallions with pairs of figures. In the middle is the crucifixion with the Theotokos and St, John the Evangelist. In the fifth row are two icons: below the 1st main icon – Resurrected Christ and below the 4th icon Empress Helena and Emperor Constantine with a cross. Below the 2nd and 3rd icons are cherubims. The iconostasis was renovated in stages from 1996 - 2006.
    Near to the church was built a massive belfry of columned structure. Its roof has the shape of a pyramid, covered with shingles. Above the onion dome is a one-barred cross. Originally there were four bells, one of them being from 1742. Today, there are only three bells in the external belfry.
    This church, together with eight other wooden churches were registered on July 8th 2008, with UNESCO and placed on the World Heritage List, under the title "Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area" based on their outstanding universal value.

Contact:
Travel agency BYZANT
Hlavná 3, 080 01 Prešov
tel.: + 421 51 7562668
e-mail: info@drevenechramy.sk