Baďan – rotunda

History

   The rotunda was probably built in the 12th century. It is possible that the builders were the Cistercians from Bzovik, having then a village, as confirmed by a document from 1156. At the end of the fifteenth or early sixteenth century, the rotunda was expanded by adding a late-gothic nave and a chancel, at the expense of demolished romanesque apse. In the nineteenth century, a low neo-Gothic tower appeared in front of the southern entrance.

Architecture

   The rotunda was built of worked stone blocks, on a circular plan with a semicircular apse on the eastern side. The diameter of its nave was 5.8 meters, and the walls were approximately 0.9 meters thick. The interior was illuminated by exceptionally small romanesque windows on the south and west sides, and the entrance led through the south portal with a rectangular jamb and a semicircular tympanum made of voussoirs. The interior of the rotunda was vaulted with a dome.

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bibliography:
Website apsida.sk, Baďan.