History
The first brick church of Holy Cross in Kežmarok was built in the middle of the 14th century. After the damage caused during the Hussites invasion in 1433 and during the fire in 1436, it was decided to erect a new, larger temple. The construction works lasted from 1444 to 1498. In this way, an impressive, late-gothic hall structure was built, expanded in the 16th century into a tower, crowned with a Renaissance attic. In the nineteenth century, on the wave of romanticism, attempts were made to remove all Baroque accretions from the church.
Architecture
The church built during the 15th century reconstruction, is a late-Gothic hall with three aisles and a three-side ended chancel. In the 16th century, a slender tower was added from the front of the nave. The walls of the church on the outside are clasped with buttresses, which are separated by large, pointed windows, decorated with traceries. The interior is covered with vaults supported by octagonal pillars: net vault in the chancel and stellar and net in the nave.
Current state
Despite numerous early modern renovations, the church has retained its Gothic shape and many medieval architectural details. In the presbytery there is a richly decorated Gothic baptismal font from 1472, made by the priests from Spišská Nová Ves, and in the north aisle there is an altar with Gothic tablet paintings from 1470-1480. Under the choir, late-Gothic stalls from 1518 were installed.
bibliography:
Website zabytkowekoscioly.net, Kieżmark, kościół Świętego Krzyża.