Alongside Kežmarok and Bardejov, Levoča is one of the most beautiful towns in eastern Slovakia. I spent two days here and never got bored. Don’t skip St James’s Basilica (Bazilika sv. Jakuba) with Master Paul’s altar, the town hall and the Cage of Shame, and at the end walk up Marian Hill (Mariánska hora). The view is worth it.
- How many days
- Two days, I stayed right on the main square at Hotel U Leva
- St James's Basilica
- I recommend a short guided tour; the tower opened in July 2022 and you climb 216 steps with a guide
- Marian Hill
- About 40 minutes on foot from the centre, the last stretch is a proper workout, the view is worth it
- Surprise
- The Museum of Special Education, I'm not a museum person, but in a dark room I got to try what it's like to be blind
- Windows on the square
- The number of windows facing the square tells you who lived in the house, 7 windows a count, 5 a baron, 3 a townsman
I wrote this article in 2018. Prices, opening hours and connections may have changed since then, so check them before you go.
If you’re wondering what to see in Levoča, you’re in the right place. I’d heard a lot about this town, mostly because of the wooden altar by Master Paul of Levoča, but I had never been here before.
Tip from Milan Levoča, Spiš Castle (Spišský hrad) and the area around them are easiest to explore by car. You can compare flights from London to Poprad-Tatry Airport on Omio and rental cars on Discover Cars.
What to see in Levoča: sights and stories
In the end I spent two really pleasant days in Levoča and was surprised by how much there is to do and see. I’m not much of a history-and-dates person, but Levoča’s past is full of stories you could turn into a pretty funny film today. Here’s what to see in Levoča:
- Levoča Town Hall
- Krupek House
- Ľudovít Štúr statue on the square
- Town walls and gates
- Cage of Shame
- Museum of Special Education
- Thurzo House
- Marian Hill
Levoča got rich because it was a town at a crossroads of trade routes and held the so-called staple right. What did that mean? Merchants passing through had to stop here for two weeks and offer their goods to the people of Levoča first. They also had to stay and eat here. Levoča made a fortune on this right, even though Kežmarok badly wanted it too. That’s why the two towns fought a hundred-year war. I’ve also written about what to see in Kežmarok.
Levoča Town Hall in the town centre
Levoča was hit by several fires, and at the end of the 16th century the town hall burned down too. Levoča doesn’t know its original coat of arms, and many important documents were lost in the great fire. The ground floor used to house a pharmacy, the first floor had the offices, and wine was stored in the cellar. They say the town councillors left the lights on in their offices upstairs while they went down to drink wine. Today the town hall is beautifully restored, and what got me most was a small orchestra playing for the public there at Sunday lunchtime.
On the side of the town hall there are interesting frescoes showing five virtues every Renaissance person was supposed to have:
- Temperance is the woman with a full jug,
- prudence is the woman with snakes,
- fortitude is the woman carrying a column,
- patience is the figure with a lamb on a string, and
- justice is the woman with scales.
As you walk around the centre, look at the houses and count their windows in one row facing the square. Why? The windows tell you how high up in society the person who had the house built and lived in it was. This table will help:
| 9 windows | house of a prince (no princes lived in Levoča) |
| 7 windows | house of a count |
| 5 windows | house of a baron |
| 3 windows | house of ordinary townspeople |
Day trip idea: visit the Chmaroš Viaduct (Chmarošský viadukt), just an hour’s drive from Levoča.
Where I stayed: right in the centre of Levoča, on the main square, at Hotel U Leva.
Krupek House in Levoča and its story
The centre of Levoča has some really interesting burghers‘ houses. When one of them was being restored, they found a beautiful painting that had originally been painted over in grey. This is Krupek House. The painting shows three interesting figures, three saints, among them St Sebastian and St Christopher. The Krupeks were a Polish merchant family who bought the house in 1529. Definitely stop here and take a good look at the paintings. In the photo below you can see, from the right, Spillenberg House, Krupek House and Mariássy House. What to see in Levoča? Beautiful houses.
The legend of the White Lady of Levoča
The story goes that the White Lady of Levoča, Júlia Korponayová, stole the keys to the town gate from her lover Andrássy and let the enemy into the town. She was executed for it in Győr, even though it later turned out she was innocent. What to see in Levoča? In St James’s Basilica she still has her own pew, where she liked to sit during mass.
Ľudovít Štúr statue and the Lutheran church
Ľudovít Štúr has his own statue in Levoča, although there’s no proof he was ever actually here. But Levoča was home to the well-known Lutheran Lyceum. When Štúr lost his post in Bratislava, thirteen of his students came to study in Levoča. They also learned biblical Czech here, because they were preparing to become Lutheran pastors. They set up societies, for example a Temperance Society. They also brewed their own beer and spirits here. The Demands of the Slovak Nation were printed in Levoča.
On the upper floor of the Lutheran church there’s a large library with the almanacs Štúr’s followers published here. The church has exactly 1,500 seats, but today there are only 200 Lutherans in Levoča.
Levoča town gates
Medieval Levoča was surrounded by walls with a total length of 2.5 kilometres. Around the whole historic town runs a moat that could be filled with water if an enemy threatened the town. Two real town gates have survived: the Košice Gate and the Menhard Gate. The best kept is the Košice Gate, and you can even drive through it. On the map you’ll also find the Polish Gate. It still stands, but it was never a real town gate: it’s a tower with a Gothic passage, probably from the 15th century, built onto the Gymnasium Church and the inner ring of the town walls. It used to be called the Monastery Tower, too.
- Košice Gate (Košická brána)
- Menhard Gate (Menhardská brána)
- Polish Gate (Poľská brána), in fact a tower with a passage
The Cage of Shame in Levoča for disobedient women
Like the one in Kežmarok, this 16th-century cage was used to punish disobedient women. I’m not a disobedient woman, but they locked me in anyway. One of the offences was, for example, being outside after dark. Women were locked up here for 24 hours and had their heads shaved. The first one locked in was the town judge’s daughter, and for 48 hours, to set an example that rules are there to be followed.
The pharmacist’s wife also ended up in the Cage of Shame, for cheating on him with the butcher. The butcher wasn’t locked up, though, so the Cage of Shame wasn’t exactly fair. A short walk from the cage there’s also a nice statue the town received as a gift. Water flows from it towards the four cardinal directions, which symbolise charity.
Museum of Special Education
I really enjoyed the Museum of Special Education (Múzeum špeciálneho školstva) in Levoča. It shows how aids for people with disabilities, whether autistic, deaf or blind people, developed over history. Museums don’t usually do much for me, but this one was the opposite. The interactive stations kept me busy the whole time. My favourite was a dark room I walked into without seeing a thing. I got to feel what it’s like to be blind, finding my way around a kitchen full of cutlery and boards, looking for the table and sitting down on a chair. Honestly, it was really hard, and I was constantly afraid I’d hit my head on something.
As a „blind man“ I also realised how much I had idealised the room I was in. When the guide switched the light on, I was surprised how different the room looked from the one I had pictured in my head in the dark. I learned to write my name in Braille and tested my hearing, sight and smell. Telling the sound of a plane engine from a locomotive is pretty tricky, haha.
Thurzo House
Originally these were two houses, which the Thurzo family joined together, adding attics so the difference in height wouldn’t be so big. The inscription on the house hides Roman numerals that add up to the year the house was painted: 1904. The inscription tells you when the Thurzos bought and rebuilt the house.
The house wasn’t decorated like this at all at first. In 1904 it was painted by students of an art school from Budapest. The Thurzos were a rich Levoča family.
Master Paul of Levoča Museum
People in Levoča don’t know where Master Paul came from or how he died. His son killed a Pole on the square in Levoča, and Master Paul promised to pay the man’s parents compensation of 15 florins. As punishment, his son had to leave Levoča.
The museum is in his original house, where he lived and worked. Master Paul’s House, however, has been closed since 2025 because of its poor technical condition, and the renovation is expected to last until 2029. The main sign of a work by Master Paul of Levoča is a robe folded in the shape of an ear, plus big eyes, curly hair and a particular shape of the fingers. Master Paul was probably Polish, since statues with his „signature“ have also been found in Kraków.
The museum mainly shows plaster casts of his works, while the originals are spread around Slovakia. There is one original here, though: the Madonna and Child. Part of her face and one hand are missing. Why? Master Paul wanted to convert to the Lutheran church, and he could only do that if he destroyed one of his own works. This Madonna is the one.
St James’s Basilica
The basilica is definitely one of the absolute highlights of what to see in Levoča. I recommend a short guided tour. I learned lots of interesting things, for example which pew was the White Lady of Levoča’s favourite and why =) she liked to show herself there. During my visit, thanks to the Town Information Centre, I even got into the tower, which was being renovated at the time. Since July 2022 the tower has been open to the public. There are 216 steps to the top and visits are guided. What to see in Levoča? The basilica, no question.
Marian Hill in Levoča
If you still have some energy left, I really recommend walking up Marian Hill. The last stretch in particular is a proper workout. From the centre of Levoča it takes about 40 minutes on foot, but the view is worth it.
Thanks to the Levoča Town Information Office for organising my press trip around Levoča. Alongside Kežmarok and Bardejov, Levoča is one of the most beautiful towns I’ve visited in eastern Slovakia so far. Let this article inspire your own visit and your list of what to see in Levoča.
A Slovak travel blogger who has been getting Slovaks out of their office chairs since 2013. Author of the book Influencer and founder of the Bez Mapy blog.
