History
The church and the Franciscan monastery began to be built in 1467, and its consecration was made in 1484. The town chronicles indicate that the founders were the Coborovcov and Kropáčovcov families and the zupan Jan Tarcai, who was buried in the monastery church. The monastery soon became a popular place of rest for burghers and noblemen, who from 1500 to 1855 were buried in 17 crypts.
In 1535, as a result of the plague, which killed all but one of the residents of the monastery, the building was abandoned until the sixties of the sixteenth century. After re-residence of the monks, because of the safe and remote location of Skalica from the Ottoman threat, the monastery was chosen as the capital of the Franciscan province. The danger came, however, from a different side. During the anti-Habsburg uprising of Stephen Bocskai in 1605, Skalica was captured and burnt by the Moravian army. The monastery was also plundered, rare manuscripts, books and paraments were stolen or destroyed.
After repairing the main damages, in 1607 the monks opened the school and novitiate again, but already in 1622 they had to flee once more from the turmoil of the Thirty Years’ War. Better times came for the convent after the end of the war and in the eighteenth century, when it was decided to extend the monastery in the spirit of the Baroque. The Franciscans worked and prayed in Skalica until 1950.
Architecture
The monastery church consisted of a nave and a chancel, ending on the eastern side with a polygonal closure. Both the presbytery and the nave were reinforced with numerous buttresses. There was a rich Gothic net vault placed in the chancel, and cross vaults in the sacristy. The buildings of the monastery enclosure were attached to the church on the south side, where three wings surrounded a four-sided inner patio (garth).
bibliography:
Website zahorskemuzeum.sk, Františkáni v Skalici – duchovný a kultúrny odkaz.