A treasury of relics

A review of "Levoca: Klenotnica Pamiatok na Spisi" 

Levoca is located in the Spis region of northern Slovakia. The town was relatively important during the 15th and 16th centuries, when an important route for traders and other travelers from the Balkans (then controlled by the Ottomans) to Austria and Italy passed through it. Several royal summits were held there, and the town could boast a number of Renaissance humanists and poets. Above all, Levoca was the home of Majster Pavol (Master Paul), a mysterious woodcarver and artist about whom very little is known. Pavol made the main altar at the cathedral of St James, still today a “must see” if you ever visit Levoca.

This book is a coffee table volume with lavish color photos of all the important sites in Levoca's “medieval” historical urban centre. Apart from the magnificent cathedral, there are a number of other interesting churches, the Old Church and Monastery of the Minorites, and the town hall, with the famous painting of the “white lady”. The style of architecture is Gothic or Renaissance, and contrasts wildly with the modern public housing projects in other parts of Levoca! Close to the town is the Marian Hill (Marianska hora), an important place of pilgrimage for Slovak Catholics. The book contains several photos from Pope John Paul II's visit. Nobody knows exactly why or when the hill became religiously important, but according to legend the locals used it to hide from the “Tatars” during the 13th century (presumably, the Mongols, who were pagan or Muslim).

The text of the book is trilingual, with entries in both Slovak, German and English. However, the text is rather short. The main course are the color photos. I actually visited Levoca once, and was stunned by this “treasury of relics”. I was equally stunned by the modern art students who ungracefully exhibited their incomprehensible paintings outside the cathedral, and the teenagers smoking pot in the long line of tourist waiting to get inside…

Welcome to Levoca, stranger!