The Catholic church

This originally renaissance church is one of the oldest protestant churches in Slovakia. It is evidenced by the preserved entrance portal with rosette, tower and perimeter wall, which has not retained until these days. An inscription carved in stone above the main entrance stated that Teodoz Sirmiensis, Jan David and Stefan Akai ordered to build the church in 1616. The inscription was removed in 1766, when a Catholic parish was established in Sulov. The tower for three bells was completed in 1617. The description of the church from 1969 mentions that in the tower there was an original renaissance door with ironwork and various random inscriptions. The oldest inscription was from 1628. There was Zuzana Pongracova’s, who was Teodoz’s wife, epitaph placed on the wall inside of the church. She died in 1602 and her remains were transferred to the crypt of the church in 1618. The church has been deprived from evangelicals at the time of the counter-reformation. It has still belonged to the Catholic Church nowadays. The church had been reconstructed in 1770-1771 with the help of the Queen Maria Theresa and Bishop Jan Gustini of Nitra. The church was consecrated on the 21st of November in 1771 and dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel after the repair. The church is single-nave with a multi-angle closure of the sanctuary. The sanctuary is connected from the side. It was originally an oratory – a special place for lairds. The main altar with the image of St. Michael the Archangel and with side statues of St. Peter and Paul are from 1780. Alexander Adam Sirmiensis converted to the catholic faith and he ordered to build a side altar in 1774. The church tower was repaired in 1792. The cross was placed on the tower as a proof of the church being Catholic. A chronicler wrote about the church tower in the 1930s that, "There is a double cross and a rooster on the tower, which is a sign that it was evangelical.". Maria Madocani’s mother Anna Akai, born Prileska, ordered to make a wooden choir in 1823. It was replaced by a brick choir in 1946, when new paving was laid and the entrance to the crypt was bricked up. The parish received a new organ from the church in Terchova in 1952. The top of the tower was rebuilt into the original onion-shape in 1960. There is a bell from 1765 in the tower, and there are two bells from 1957. The previously mentioned perimeter wall with the main entrance and side entrance, which was from the side of the old rectory, was already in a bad condition in 1975. Therefore, it was demolished later. There have been several old tombstones preserved in front of the church, for instance Florian Sirmiensis Sulovsky’s tombstone and priests Martin Cingla’s, Jan Carnaj’s and Alojz Palman’s tombstones. The Roman Catholic parish in Sulov has been one of the smallest in the diocese since its inception. It has also been reflected in the ability of the parish to enhance its properties. The neighboring village Jablonove was joined to the Sulov parish in 1952, due to the threat of cancellation of the parish in Sulov. The Sulov Catholic church has become a national heritage site in 1963.


zdroj: Vlastný výskum autorky textu M. Kerešovej.

Katolícky kostol v roku 1955
Pamiatky a múzea, 1955

Kostol v 70-tych rokoch 20. storočia
Obec Súľov-Hradná

Hrob Floriána Súľovského
foto M. Kerešová