St. John the Baptist Cathedral, Baroque cathedral in Trnava, Slovakia.
St. John the Baptist Cathedral is an early Baroque church in Trnava, in western Slovakia, built with a single nave and two towers on its western facade. The interior is covered in elaborate stucco decoration, and a large wooden altar stands at the far end of the chancel.
Work on the church started in 1629, commissioned by the Jesuits who had established a strong presence in Trnava after it became an important Catholic center in the region. The building was designed by Italian architects Antonio and Pietro Spazzi and set a new direction for religious architecture in the area.
The cathedral is closely tied to the Jesuit presence in Trnava, a city that was once an important center of Catholic learning in the region. Inside, northern Italian paintings and carved stonework reflect the artistic connections that the Jesuits maintained with Italy during the 17th century.
The cathedral sits in the old town center of Trnava and is easy to reach on foot from most of the city. Try to visit outside of regular Mass times if you want to walk through the interior freely and take time with the decoration.
The wooden high altar inside the church is considered one of the largest of its kind in Europe, yet the building's plain exterior gives no hint of its scale. This contrast between the sober facade and the richly carved interior is something most visitors notice only once they step inside.
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