Places to visit

Church of Virgin Mary near Liptovská Mara

The Roman-Catholic Church of Virgin Mary is situated on the bank of water reservoir “Liptovská Mara”, approximately 19 km away from the centre of Ružomberok.

Only the tower and the original floor plan have been preserved from the 13th century Gothic church.

In the tower, there is an exhibition called Gothic Heritage of Liptovská Mara. The exhibition presents colourful reproductions of Gothic altars which, along with wall paintings, used to decorate the medieval church of Svätá Mara several centuries ago. The exhibited reproductions are not made in real sizes, their dimensions were altered in view of the nature and the size of the exhibition area. In spite of that, they allow the visitors to see the beauty of these important monuments of medieval art. The exhibition can only be viewed through an open door with railing.

In the Middle Ages, the church was one of the most important churches in Liptov. Moreover, for several centuries, it was the main centre of spiritual life in Liptov. It was the administrative centre as well. After the establishment of the Liptov county, it was the venue of the county meetings.

In the Middle Ages, the church premises also served as a venue for court trials. An interesting fact is that this is where the well-known forger of documents, Ján Literát from Madočany, was sentenced to be burnt to death.

In 1975, the church was demolished during construction of water reservoir Liptovská Mara. Its true copy with selected original elements is situated in the Museum of Liptov Village in Pribylina.

The town of Liptovská Mara ended up under water as well, the inhabitants had to leave. 13 towns were flooded in total, and over 4,000 people were resettled.

Situated in the vicinity of the church is also the unique archaeological open-air museum of Liptovská Mara – Havránok.