Henckovce, Church of All Saints

The most important landmark of the village Henckovce is the Roman Catholic church, which had been, according to scholars, originally dedicated to St. Stephen, the first king of the Kingdom of Hungary. This ruler from the Arpád dynasty can be found in the coat of arms, and we chose him for the logo of the church. This recently unused church with a separate belltower, built in a fortified area on the hill, is impossible to overlook from the main road, which used to lead directly below the church in the past.

The church was built in the second half of the 13th is older than the village of Henckovce itself. Originally, it belonged to the disappeared village of Hermanovce. It is a typical rustic church of its era: a single nave church with a quadratic chancel, vaulted with a cross vault. The nave had a flat ceiling before, which unfortunately has not survived. The edifice is built on a sloping terrain, surrounded by a defensive wall. The bell-tower is located North of the church, which is connected to the church with a roofed structure. An old cemetery surrounds the church. Two major reconstructions took place. The first one dates back to the 17th century, when the wall and the bell-tower were built. The second reconstruction was realized around 1900, after the church had burned down. There is a bell from that period in the tower, which can be still rung manually. The fortification around the whole church, which is allegedly the work of Hussites, had shooting posts, of which the remains survived to this day. The restoration of the wall is in progress.

The mural on the northern side of the nave is gothic from the 14t century and it probably depicts the legend of St. Ladislaus (the rider with the lance), which is a typical depiction in the region of Gemer. Renaissance wall paintings painted in secco technique, in the chancel, date from the time when the church belonged to the Lutherans, from the first half of the 17th century. They probably depict the conversation between Job and his friends. This scene is painted according to the illustration from Luther‘s Bible from 1534, which served as a model. Job‘s wife is depicted on his left. The triumphal arch is covered with floral patterns – tulips and pomegranates. Later, Roman Catholics got the church back. After the decline of the number of Catholics in the village, the church ceased to be used.

Since 2010, the association The Gothic Route has been working intensively on the renovation of the church. The reconstruction is financed mainly from the funds of the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic within the programme called Obnovme svoj dom. This church received a new shingle roof, and historical and archaeological research has been carried out.

In August 2017, the first year of the volunteer project Sedem strážcov took place in Henckovce, in which seven architecture and history students actively participated in the work, accompanied visitors on the last day as guides and prepared an event for the public. The Matroneum was reused as a gallery for an exhibition of photographs. Strategies for further reconstruction and use of the church are planned. The project was supported by the Telekom Endowment Fund under the Pontis Foundation. In the future, the church is intended to become an information point in a symbolic heart of the Gothic Route, in which it would be possible to get informed about the churches in nearby villages, like Koceľovce, Ochtiná, Štítnik and others.

There is also another church in Henckovce, a newer baroque Lutheran church, which was built in 1798 and possesses a valuable late baroque altar which was recently restored.


	Architecture: gothic	Construction: 2nd half of the 13th century
	Church: Roman Catholic Churh	Patrocinium: All Saints, originally probably St. Stephen the King
	Circuit: Rožňava Circuit