History
The church was built in the second half of the fourteenth century on the site of an older temple from the thirteenth century. In 1395, a Gothic chapel of the St. Michael was added to the new church. After the fire in 1435, the building was temporarily roofed, but in 1441 Spišská Nová Ves was hit by an earthquake and as a result of which the flat roof of the church collapsed. Around 1445, new rib vaults were built, supported on massive pillars. At the beginning of the 16th century, a Gothic tower was erected at the western facade. The construction was prolonged and lasted from 1501 until 1523. In 1548, the parish church began to serve the Protestants, but probably most of the original equipment remained. In the years 1742 – 1772, the church was rebuilt in the baroque style. Recent changes took place at the end of the 19th century. As a result, the lofty, neo-Gothic crowning of the tower was added, with a gallery and pinnacles.
Architecture
The church is a Gothic, three-aisle pseudobasilica with a polygonal ended chancel, a tower on the west side and a chapel of St. Michael built on the north side at the end of the 14th century. The church corpus is 27.5 meters long and 16 meters wide, with the central nave 8 meters wide and the side aisles 4 meters wide. Inside, six massive columns hold rib vaults supported on consoles decorated with plant and animal motifs. At the beginning of the 16th century, the walls were covered with early Renaissance polychromes.
Current state
The church has preserved to this day its original Gothic shape with accretions obtained as a result of a neo-Gothic renovation from the end of the 19th century. In its interior, fragments of 16th-century polychromes have survived, but the most valuable relic of the church’s furnishings is a sculpture from the workshop of master Paul from Levoča from 1520 and panel paintings from the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. The Gothic portal on the southern side of the nave is also worth mentioning.
bibliography:
Website wikipedia.org, Kostol Nanebovzatia Panny Márie (Spišská Nová Ves).