St. Giles’ Cathedral, Bardejov

Its beautifully restored historical centre, the inner city surrounded by mediaeval city walls and bastions and the centre with the main square where St. Giles’s Church and the Gothic Town Hall stand have been a part of the World Heritage since 2000. St. Giles’s Church stands in the Northern end of the square – a Gothic church with three naves and an East-West orientation. Its history overarches four major periods. The first monastery church was built by the original Cistercian monks at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries. It probably survived the Tatar invasion or was rebuilt after that onslaught abated, because the already mentioned royal charter actually refers to St. Giles’ Church by name. The second period of construction was during the reign of the Anjou monarchs. A royal charter from 1320 which gives a tax holiday to German settlers reveals that ‘Civitas Bardpha’ has a priest and a parish – this cannot be referring to anything other than St. Giles’ Church. A document issued by Lajos the Great in 1352 also mentions the church by name. This document is a licence to hold an annual fair, which is to take place after the feast day (September 1st) of St. Giles, patron saint of the church and the city.