Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Rusovce: An Early Baroque Parish Church
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Slovakia
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Austrian Empire, Habsburg, Hungarian
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page9 sections
History
Foundation and family patronage
The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Rusovce, is a Roman Catholic parish church in Slovakia. Built in 1662 in the early Baroque style, it is dedicated to Mary Magdalene, a New Testament figure associated with Jesus. The church burned in 1758.
The Hungarian noble Zichy family supported the church, which served as the family tomb until the beginning of the 20th century. Félix Zichy-Ferraris and his wife, Emílie von Reichenbach-Lessonitz, had owned the manor house since 1851.
Parish and heritage status
The church belongs to the Rusovce parish within the Bratislava Archdiocese. Its wider Catholic organization includes the Bratislava-Juh deanery, a grouping of neighboring parishes, and the Western ecclesiastical province, a grouping of dioceses centered on a metropolitan archdiocese. It was listed as a Slovak National Cultural Monument on 17 July 1963.
Remains
Church and furnishings
Building and entrance
The stone church has one main worship space, a tower, and an altar area, or presbytery, ending in several straight sides. The main space has a roof with two sloping sides, while the tower is topped by a simple pyramid-shaped roof. Above the entrance, a panel displays the Zichy family arms, emblems identifying the family, and a statue of Mary Magdalene.
Altars and church fittings
The main altar, dating to the second half of the 17th century, is a columned structure with a central painting of Christ on the cross and a kneeling Mary Magdalene. The arms of Štefan Zichy and his wife, Magdalena Amade, also appear on it. Two 17th-century side altars, in a style combining Renaissance and Baroque elements, are dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeo, a 16th-century archbishop and Catholic reformer, and the Annunciation, the announcement to Mary that she would bear Jesus. The pulpit and baptismal font are also 17th-century works in this style.
Organ and stained glass
The organ dates to 1857 and bears the coats of arms of Félix Zichy-Ferraris and Emílie von Reichenbach-Lessonitz. Stained-glass windows in the presbytery, given by local donors from Rusovce, depict Saint Thomas the Apostle, one of the Twelve Apostles, Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, a 13th-century princess and Christian saint, and Saint Stephen.
Plague column
A column erected in 1719 stands in front of the main entrance. Dedicated to Saint Anthony, it commemorates the plague epidemic of 1713.
