History
The first Romanesque church in Holice was built in the last quarter of the 12th century. In the first half of the thirteenth century, perhaps after the Mongol invasion of 1240-1241, it was replaced by a newer Romanesque-Gothic building, first mentioned in written sources in 1253, then still under the invocation of St. Peter. Its size indicated the wealth of the village that was then owned by Bratislava Castle.
Around 1320, the church was covered with a gothic vault, and the interior was covered with rich frescoes. The next paintings and the richly decorated pastophory were created around 1400. In the 17th century, the nave was covered with an early modern vault, supported by half-pillars at the walls. During this period, characteristic pyramidal buttresses were added to the lower part of the towers, and the northern sacristy was liquidated and the entrance to it was bricked up. In the second quarter of the 18th century, a new sacristy was added on the south side, and the nave received a new roof truss.
The church was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style during a thorough renovation after 1880. The nave then received a new, lower than the original rib vault, which led, among others, to destroy gothic corbels. New windows were cut out on the north side of the nave, and the original ones were enlarged. The west facade has also been changed with a new portal, but it is possible that its original appearance has been roughly preserved. Wall paintings from the Gothic period were not discovered until 1990; were unveiled and restored in 1991-1992.
Architecture
As a result of the Romanesque-Gothic expansion from the first half of the 13th century, the church received a very impressive form for a village temple, consisting of a rectangular nave, polygonally ended chancel on the eastern side with a sacristy added from the north and a two-tower west facade. The entrance to the church was initially located on the south side, where part of the archivolt of the Romanesque portal has been preserved. The interior of the church was vaulted in the Gothic period and covered with colorful polychromes depicting scenes from the life of Christ and the lives of several saints, as well as scenes from the Last Judgment. Around 1400, a tower-like pastophory was inserted into the presbytery, richly decorated with blind tracery and topped with a pinnacle with a crocket.
bibliography:
Website apsida.sk, Holice na Ostrove.