Kežmarok is a small town famous for one of the five so-called articulate churches that have survived in Slovakia. It is included in the UNESCO list along with other sacred wooden monuments of the northern part of the country.
In the Middle Ages, Kieżmark developed as a trading town along the route to Poland. In the 13th century, King Bela IV ordered the building around the defensive walls, and in the next century the construction of the castle began. The Late Gothic Castle in Kežmarok was the seat of the royal administration. In the 16th century, the Polish Łaski family was for a short time administrators. In 1565, the wife of Olbracht Łaski, Beata, made the first documented mountain trip to the Kieżmarska valley and the Zielony Staw Kieżmarski. The expedition took place in the absence of her husband, in the company of several townspeople. When Olbracht returned to Kieżmark, he became furious and ordered his wife to be locked in a cell in the tower, where he kept her for 6 years. Currently, there is a museum in the castle.
The biggest attraction of Kieżmark is a wooden, articulated Protestant church. It was built at the beginning of the 18th century on the basis of an article by the Sopron Sejm from 1681, which allowed Protestants to build 38 churches from perishable materials in what was then Hungary. To this day, 5 such buildings have survived in Slovakia. It is a wooden, plastered structure with sloping roofs. The interior is covered with rich painting decorations. There is also a magnificent carved Baroque altar.
