St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Trnava)

Front of the cathedral

The St. John the Baptist Cathedral (Slovak: Katedrála svätého Jána Krstiteľa) belongs to the most significant historic monuments of Trnava, western Slovakia. It is located approximately at 48°22′50″N 17°35′18″E.

The Cathedral is first purely Baroque building built in present-day Slovakia. It is part of academical buildings complex. The donator of this Cathedral, Miklós Esterhazy, entrusted its construction to Italian masters Antonio and Pietro Spazzi in 1629. The not-yet-finished cathedral was consecrated in 1637.

One-nave two-tower Cathedral with straight seal of sanctuary has a west aspect and it’s about 61m in length and 28m in width. Above it’s main portal is located shield with figures of sitting angels and stoned crest of the Esterházy family.

The interior of the Cathedral amazes a visitor with its massiveness and variety of unique paintings. Main area makes barrel vaults with lunettes, in chapels on the both sides of nave can be found cloister vaults.

Big treasure of whole interior is colossal main altar which was finished in 1640. On it’s realisation participated besides Austrian master B. Knilling and V. Knoth also V. Stadler from Trnava and master Ferdinand from Cífer. The alter is 20,3 m high and 14,8 m wide and it’s one of the biggest altars of its kind in Europe.

The painters and stuccoer's decoration of interior is work of artists G. B. Rossa, G. Tornini and P. Conti. Part of the ceiling’s paintings is from painter J. Gruber from 1700.

The church doesn’t hold only spiritual function, there were many theological treatises and graduations. Very interesting are also catacombs with graves.

From 1977 until 2008 it was the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava, now of Archdiocese of Trnava. Pope John Paul II visited the cathedral in 2003.