St. John the Baptist Cathedral is one of the most significant historic monuments of Trnava

Trnava

Trnava is a city in western Slovakia, 47 km to the north-east of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of a kraj and of an okres . It was the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric . The city has a historic center...

, western Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

. It is located approximately at 48°22′50"N 17°35′18"E.

The Cathedral is the first purely Baroque building built in present-day Slovakia. It is part of a complex of academical buildings. The donor of this Cathedral, Miklós Eszterházy, entrusted its construction to the Italian masters Antonio and Pietro Spazzi in 1629. The not-yet-finished cathedral was consecrated in 1637.

The single-nave two-tower Cathedral with straight seal of sanctuary has a west aspect and is about 61m in length and 28m in width. Above its main portal there is a shield with figures of seated angels and the stoned crest of the Esterházy family.

The interior of the Cathedral amazes a visitor with its massiveness and variety of unique paintings. The main area has barrel vaults with lunettes, while in the chapels on both sides of nave can be found cloister vaults.

The biggest treasure of the whole interior is the colossal main altar which was finished in 1640. On its realisation participated besides the Austrian master B. Knilling and V. Knoth also V. Stadler from Trnava and master Ferdinand from Cífer

Cífer

Cífer is a municipality in the Trnava District, Slovakia. It has a population of 4,013....

. The alter is 20,3 m high and 14,8 m wide and is one of the biggest altars of its kind in Europe.

The painters and stuccoer's decoration of the interior is the work of artists G. B. Rossa, G. Tornini and P. Conti. The ceiling’s paintings are by the north Italian painters F. I. Grafenstein and C. Ricchi (Source Dr. Medvecky, 2008).

The church doesn’t hold only spiritual functions; there were many theological treatises and graduations. Very interesting also are the catacombs with graves.

In December 1978 Pope John Paul II established the church as the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Trnava. The name of the archdiocese was changed in 1995 to the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava and in 2008 changed back to the Archdiocese of Trnava. Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II

Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...

visited the cathedral on 11.9.2003.