Koceľovce, Church of Augsburg Confession

The Koceľovce Church, now an evangelical church, dates from the first half of the 14th century, originally dedicated to St. Bartholomew. It is a single-nave building with a presbytery, with an attached sacristy on the north side and a high tower on the west side. The presbytery of the church was enlarged during the last third of the 14th century and vaulted with a cross-rib vault.

The wall paintings of the church in Koceľovce, dating from 1360-1370, represent the largest continuous painted surface among all the churches in Gemer so far.

The interior of the church is also dominated by a monumental Baroque altar and pulpit from 1740.

Draw your attention to these wall paintings

The vault of the presbytery

The wall paintings of the church date back to 1377 to 1400. In the richly decorated vault of the presbytery there are frescoes depicting the Church Fathers, symbols of the four evangelists, angels with musical instruments, inscriptional bands and prophets. In the western field of the vault is St. Ambrose and a winged bull as a symbol of the Evangelist Luke, in the northern field of the vault is St. Gregory and a lion as a symbol of the Evangelist Mark, in the eastern field is St. Augustine and a man or angel as a symbol of St. Matthew, in the southern field is St. Hieronymus and an eagle as a symbol of St. John. Other fields of the vault are covered with paintings of prophets, angels playing musical instruments and angels with censers. The face of Christ is in the vault's keystone, in reference to Jesus' words from the Gospel (Mt 21:42): 'The stone which the builders rejected has become a cornerstone'. 

Crucifixion

The monumental and most impressive wall painting of the Crucifixion on the north-eastern wall of the presbytery of the church occupies the height of two bands. The scene is dominated by a tall cross with the crucified Jesus Christ, below which stand in a group Mary and Salome, St. John, Mary Magdalene embracing the cross, and two soldiers.  At the sides of the crucified Christ are depicted two thieves, Gestas and Dysmas, who are tied (not nailed) to the cross and have their limbs broken. A remarkable detail is the taking of the robbers' souls in the form of tiny figures. The soul of Dysmas, who has regretted his action, is taken away by an angel. The soul of Gestas is taken away by the devil. An interesting detail is represented by the figure of the Roman soldier on the right leaning on a shield with the painted head of a dragon - an eternal symbol of the enemy of Christianity and an attribute of St. George who triumphed over it.

Entombment

The wall painting Entombment is located on the south wall of the presbytery of the church and is the chronological outcome of the Christological cycle of the sanctuary's wall decoration. It depicts Mary laying the body of Christ in the tomb, holding her dead son by the head and tenderly touching his face with her cheek. She is assisted by Joseph of Arimathea, who stands at Christ's head, and Nicodemus, who stands at his feet. They are accompanied by a group of four lamenting women, and on the right we see St. John mourning.