Križovany nad Dudváhom, lying south from Trnava, is the biggest from the three villages that formed the Dudváh village until 1991. With no doubt, the most significant cultural and historical landmark is a proud property of the village named after it. It is the location of the uniquely valuable Romanesque rotunda of the Elevation of the Holy Cross (formerly of Holy Cross) originating probably from the period before 1246. The rotunda is attached to a Roman-Catholic Church of the the Elevation of the Holy Cross form 1938. However, the exact date of rotunda’s origin is not known. Its ancientry is proved by the dedication of the church to the Holy Cross recorded in writing in 1296. Such patronage was common within the area of present Slovakia especially in the period of Great Moravia and in the Romanesque era. The rotunda is an original and integral construction object preserved until today which belongs to a specific group of Romanesque brick churches. Such churches originated in the 12th century and at the beginning of the 13th century. It is a standard example of a rotunda formed by a cylindrical nave and horseshoe apse. In the past a part was formed by a cemetery where people were buried until 1775. In the period between 1760 and 1780, the rotunda was integrated into the new Baroque church as its presbytery so that the walling was torn down on its west side. The former sanctuary became a sacristy. In this period the patronage of the church was also changed. After tearing down the old church and the building of the new church in 1937, there were thoughts on the rotunda’s elimination. Fortunately, thanks to conservationists’ intervention this plan has never been pursued. After including into the new church, the rotunda became one of its side chapels. After the research in 1967, original medieval elements were uncovered in rotunda. When the roof was repaired in 1969 and the object gained its original appearance, the rotunda was included among the artistic treasures of the medieval architecture in Slovakia.

 

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