evangelical church Church

Evangelical church in Necpaly, located in the village Necpaly in Žilina region, is a classicistic building from 1835. It was declared a national cultural monument on 26 November 1963. The church contains Turzo's altar from 1611 considered to be an important renaissance monument in Slovakia.

Reformation has a long tradition in Necpaly. The first evangelical priest was documented in 1593. The local Gospels used the old church of St. Ladislav until 1681 when the Shopron Assembly was held. This confirmed the practice of taking churches to Protestants, but made it possible to build two evangelical churches in each stool for the fulfillment of the restrictions. Necpaly and Ivanova were these places in the Turks. This created in Necpals a wooden articular church serving the Gospels in the lower Turks. Royal Commissioner Jozef Erdődy designated the site for the new church in 1689. In 1752 the altar of Orava Castle was given to Necpál Turzov, after which the church underwent a construction treatment and the altar was installed in an enlarged church. This church was dismantled in 1835 when the limitations of the Shoprone dream were no longer applied, and the new building was made by Theofil Kraus. The completion was delayed until 1843 due to the collapse of the arch at the altar. The tower to the church was built in 1863 under the direction of Daniel Čatlos from Liptovský Petr. The church was renovated in 2002-2006.

The architecture of the Evangelical Church is a stylish purity of classicalism. It is a single-ship building on a rectangular floor plan, with a right-hand cornered sanctuary and a tower embedded inside the church matter. It is located in an isolated position on the outskirts of the village, on the elevation, former garden of the Just manor house. The main façade is divided by pilasters and windows are decorated with shambles, finished with compressed arch. The tower has Armed Pilastry with Ionian warheads and in place bell towers double window with shutter. Helmica is bell-shaped, finished with a lantern and a two-cross.

In the interior there are emporas on the floor plan ellipse, so the hall space acts as a central disposition. The arch of the church boat is wooden, pearly and in elliptic shape. The windows to the boat are completed with a compressed arc, in the space of the altar atypical windows in the form of a kidney. The interior is divided by classicistic pilasters with Roman warheads that carry arches. The shrine has a compressed vault.

Oltár Speculum Iustificationis from 1611 is a significant Renaissance work. The author is unknown, paintings are attributed to the Norimber painter Paul Juvenel. The altar was ordered by Juraj Turzo for the Chapel of Orava Castle and reached Necpál as a gift by Juraj Erdődy, who modified the chapel in the Baroque spirit, for the Just family in 1752. The altar is an edictula type with foreheads, a central part with a central image and an extension in the form of a broken triangular shield. The extension has the coats of arms of Juraj Turza and his wife Elizabeth Cobor, carried by statues of characters lying on the shield. On the ward is the painting of the last dinner, on the sides of the octagon with manna paintings, and Moses strikes with a stick into the rock. Side wings include paintings: Jonah cast out by a whale, Samson struggles with a lion, Exile from Paradise, and Crucifixion. The extension has a painting Last trial. The central picture of Speculum Iustificationis represents the Turze's creed and the principle of Luther's teaching.

In addition to the altar, it is worth noting the late-classicist pulpit with paintings coming from the older church, Christ, St. Paul and evangelists with their attributes. The Baptist comes from the time of the church. The inventory includes an image painted on the 200th anniversary of the Augsburg creed (probably from 1730) and an historic organ from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Today, the Evangelical Church in Necpaly is open to the public and considered an important cultural monument. Its architecture, history and art are attractive to visitors from all over the world. This church stands as a symbol of long-lasting tradition of reformation in Slovakia.