GPR SURVEY OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY IN SOCOVCE (MARTIN DISTRICT)

In the summer of 2009 a GPR survey was carried out in the interior of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Socovce which was part of the rescue archaeological research. According to some historians, the church in Socovce belongs to the oldest sacral buildings in the Turiec Basin. The construction-historical exploration confirmed its latest existence in the first half of the 13th century; unearthing older foundations archaeological exploration shifted this dating to the period before the 13th century. Such dating is also supported by the finds of stone monolithic grave stones, such as occur in Slovakia mainly from the 11th to the 13th century. GPR survey completed the information obtained through the architectonic historical and archaeological exploration. A marked anomaly measured in the western part of the sacristy perhaps reflects the presence of Baroque(?) crypt of the Rakovský family. The most important outcome of GPR survey was the measuring of the anomaly indicating the presence of older masonries under the floor of the present presbytery and sacristy. The shape of the anomaly indicates the presence of an assumed older quadratic presbytery. Such interpretation, however, may be verified only by planned archaeological exploration in the church´s interior.