Basilica of St James
Gothic parish church on Levoča's square, holding the world's tallest wooden altar by Master Paul.
Building of the parish church of St James began in the fourteenth century, when Levoča was a prosperous Saxon town on the trade route through the Spiš region. It is a hall church of three naves and, after the cathedral in Košice, the second largest church in Slovakia. Lightning damaged the medieval tower in the early nineteenth century, and the present neo-Gothic tower, seventy metres high and designed by Fridrich Muck, was built between 1852 and 1870.
The interior keeps an exceptional group of late Gothic and Renaissance altars. The high altar, carved in the workshop of Master Paul of Levoča between 1507 and 1517, rises 18.62 metres and is regarded as the tallest wooden Gothic altar in the world; its central group shows the Madonna with St James and St John. Wall paintings of the Seven Works of Mercy and the Vices survive in the nave. Pope Francis raised the church to a minor basilica on 30 November 2015.
Highlights
- High altar of 1507-1517 by Master Paul, 18.62 metres tall
- Medieval wall paintings of the Works of Mercy and Vices
- Neo-Gothic tower of 1852-1870, seventy metres high
- Eleven surviving Gothic and Renaissance side altars
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