st John the Baptist's Church Church

St John the Baptist church in the village Rimavské Genovce in the district Rimavská Sobota is a Romanesque sacral building built at the turn of the 12th and 13th century, registered by the Monument Office of the Slovak Republic under the number of the ÚZPF 1013. The building is also the rest of the former Benedictine Abbey.

The village Rimavské Genovce lies southeast of the district town, aside from the main roads. Archaeological findings from the wider surroundings confirm that at the time of the arrival of the benedictines, the Rimava Valley was densely populated, so it is assumed that the ordering brothers came to expand the church organization. The exact date of establishment of the abbey and its founder are not known, but the existence of the abbey at the beginning of the 13th century is evidenced by the written reference from 1221. The monastery gave the name of the village, which according to the charter from 1427 was all its property. The death of the Abbey dates back to the end of the 16th century as a result of the economic and political crisis, reformation and fire, which also damaged the church and left traces on the north side to this day.

The church belongs to one-ship sacral buildings enriched with surrounded vlys. It is built of precisely processed tufa blocks using bricks. Originally it was not plastered from the outside and the masonry surface was treated by scratching and lime coating. The building is characterized by wide-spread western facade, a semicircular eastern apsid and a small open bell tower over the western facade, which belonged to the 17th century pair of towers. The interior arrangement reflects the presence of laymen and order brothers, while the ship served laymen and behind the triumphal arch was a separate choir for monks with apsid and the main altar. The entrances were separated - the west and the south portal served laymen, while the northern portal of the ship and the portal of the north tower led to the monastic buildings. The interior accessory consists of a wooden cluster ceiling.

After the fire and the death of the monastery in the late 16th century, the church remained abandoned until 1751, when it was restored and became a parish church. However, due to the lack of finance, the building fell, which in 1857 culminated in the collapse of the roof and ceiling of the ship. He was rescued from ruin by the activity of archaeologist, historian and local priest Florian Romero, who organized a national collection that financed the restoration between 1875 and 1876. The initiator of the restoration won the honorary title of the Abbot of Rimavské Janovací for his merit from the Banská Bystrica bishop.

To this day, the church stands alone on a fenced plot and retains its original matter along with a number of details reminiscent of the medieval history of the Benedictine Abbey.