THIS beautiful Protestant church in Leštiny, a village in the Orava region, was built between 1688 and 1689. It was originally constructed exclusively from wood because that's what Protestants were constrained to using under a list of laws called the articula. Therefore, this style of church eventually became known as artikulárne (articular).
Articular churches like the one in this postcard also had a stone foundation that was laid at a later point.
Local aristocratic families, such as the Zmeškalovecs, Orzságs and Meškos, were responsible for constructing and maintaining the churches, and built so-called sponsoring banks inside them.
Leštiny was often devastated by floods and marauding armies, so it is a bit of a miracle that this wooden church is still standing.
This postcard is a reproduction of a painting by Czech artist Karel Pospíšil, from 1922.
