Basilica of St. Giles

The Basilica of St. Giles is a 14th-century Gothic hall church that closes off the northern edge of Bardejov's central market square. Construction began around 1380, gradually taking shape as a three-aisled basilica dedicated to Saint Giles of Saint-Gilles, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers venerated across medieval Central Europe. Together with Bardejov's historic old town, the church was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000, recognized as one of the most complete medieval urban ensembles in the region. It holds the honorary title of Basilica minor within the Archdiocese of Košice. Inside, visitors encounter original ribbed vaulting and a series of late-Gothic winged altarpieces that rank among the finest surviving examples of medieval ecclesiastical art in Slovakia.