Scepusio, Diocese of

SCEPUSIO (Lat. Scepusium, Slov. Špif), Diocese of. - In Czechoslovakia. Residence at Spišská Kapitula. Statistics (1949): area 6,568 sq. km., population 324,780, Catholics 306,921, parishes 162, diocesan priests 264, male religious houses 12 with 95 religious, female religious houses 32 with 485 religious.

It was erected on 13 March 1776, its territory being detached from the archdiocese of Esztergom. It belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Agria (Eger) until the year 1937, when it became immediately subject to the Holy See. Its territory diminished after 1920, when, as a consequence of the new state frontier, certain parishes passed to the archdiocese of Kraków.

From the end of the 12th century the provostship of S. was a spiritual center for provinces very distant from the seat of the archbishop of Esztergom. In the Middle Ages there arose on the hill facing the powerful castle of S. that complex of buildings which, surrounded by enclosing walls, has been preserved to this day as an autonomous entity, a special commune, under the name of Spišská Kapitula (Chapter of S.). There are found the imposing provostal church, now the cathedral of St. Martin, partly Romanesque in style (13th century), partly Gothic (1472-93), the episcopal palace, the residences of the canons, the diocesan seminary, and the teachers' institute, directed by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, who also have their scholasticate there.

The head of this commune, composed almost exclusively of men, is a canon.

Within the territory of the diocese is found the ancient monumental city of Levoča (v.). The specialty of the province of S. are the Gothic churches with two naves, with a row of columns in the center.