SLOVAKIA Spišská Kapitula
Spišská Kapitula (Spiš Chapter House), registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is an ancient ecclesiastical town located on the outskirts of the town of Spišské Podhradie. It is also known as the Slovak “Vatican”. Two kilometres south-east from the town there are the ruins of Spiš Castle, the biggest castle in Slovakia. Its main attraction is the twin-towered late Romanesque Cathedral of St. Martin, completed in 1273. It was dedicated to St. Martin of Tours. The interior includes a 15th century altar and a 1317 Gothic fresco of the coronation of Charles Robert of Anjou as King of Hungary. The Cathedral is also the resting place of the lords of Spiš Castle. Worthy of mention are also the 15th century carved marble tombstones of the Zápolský family. The town also consists of a former monastery and a medieval-construction single street enclosed by a wall. Spišská Kapitula was once the Spiš region’s ecclesiastical capital, the seat of the regional bishop. Pope John Paul II visited Spišská Kapitula in 1995.