Gothic Church in Sena

It was built in the period of the transition from Romanesque to Gothic in the second third of the 13th century and, till this time, several valuable relics in this church have survived the passage of time.

The church is situated approximately in the middle of Seňa, the village situated 19 km (11.87 mi) south of Košice. It was originally dedicated to St. Nicolas, but later it became the property of the Reformed Church to which it has belonged up to this day.

In spite of several construction works, this church with one aisle still has some parts which remained preserved and which come from the period of its construction. The church was built in transitional style of architecture in the second third of the 13th century, when Romanesque was gradually fading away to be replaced by Gothic. The church itself proves that we do not have to look for exceptionally valuable architectural monuments only in the later period and the most developed places.

The south entrance of the church is probably the most remarkable part of the church. It consists of the well-preserved Early Gothic portal, which does not have the typical Gothic broken arch. In its vault there are four human heads carved in the stone, which probably depict the kings Ondrej II and Bela IV and their wives.

The original Gothic ribbed vault is preserved only in the presbytery, which is ended with a rectangular closure from the 13th century. The vault abuts against the pillars and consoles with plant ornaments. One keystone has strawberry leaves carved in it and the second one has a coat of arms with a figure. The two late Romanesque windows on the south part of the aisle are also very interesting. Around the church there is a well-preserved stone wall, which the most of village churches used to have in the Middle Ages.