History
The church in Liptovský Ján was probably built around 1280. In the second half of the fourteenth century it was thoroughly rebuilt, among others the presbytery was vaulted, and in subsequent centuries the nave was extended to the south. In the restless 17th century, the temple was enriched with a stone wall surrounding the building. The church was supposed to get its present silhouette only in 1808, when a tower was added to the west facade. In 1971 archaeological research was carried out to explain the beginnings of construction.
Architecture
The church was built on a hill dominating the surrounding area. It received a single-nave form with a polygonal chancel on the eastern side (narrower than the nave) and a sacristy on the north side. The original entrance led to it from the north through a simple portal of late-Romanesque forms. Inside, the nave was covered with an open roof truss or a flat ceiling, while in the presbytery gothic cross-rib vault was placed in the western bay and a six-section vault in the eastern closing was installed. They were based on high-hanging, straight corbels. Due to the vault, the external façades of the chancel were reinforced with buttresses, of which the nave was originally devoid.
Current state
Despite several reconstructions, the church retained its gothic form, which, interestingly, was also given to the built very late tower, stylistically referring to the rest of the building. The chancel has a cross-rib vault from the 14th century, and the church can also boast a part of the oldest preserved roof truss in Slovakia from 1291/1292. Most of the truss over the nave comes from the years 1467 – 1468, and over the chancel is dated 1517 – 1518.
bibliography:
Website apsida.sk, Liptovský Ján.