Wooden churches are specific samples of sacred architecture in Slovakia and possess an extraordinary worldwide value. Their folk builders expressed the perfect harmony of the human soul with nature and the effort to disengage from earthly worries.
There are three types of wooden churches in Slovakia. Among the oldest belong the Gothic wooden churches. The “articled” churches – those which were built under the article of the law issued by Emperor Leopold I at the end of the 17th century – are another type. But there is also a third type of wooden churches built in eastern Slovakia, mostly in the 18th century. First they were owned by the Greek Catholic denomination, later some of them were changed into Orthodox churches. The special features of the East Christian rite are reflected in their interior decoration and furniture where the unique Carpathian icons dominate. They are normally fitted into iconostases ornamented in the Baroque and Rococo styles.
The wooden churches inscribed into the UNESCO List of Cultural Monuments include Roman Catholic churches in Hervartov and Tvrdosin, Evangelical articular churches in Kezmarok, Lestiny and Hronsek, and churches of Eastern rite in Bodruzal, Ladomirova and Ruska Bystra.