SCEPUSIO (lat. Scepusium, slov. Spif), DIOCESE of. — In Czechoslovakia. Residence in Spišská Kapitula. Statistics (1949): area 6,568 sq. km, inhabitants 324,780, Catholics 306,921, parishes 162, diocesan priests 264, 12 houses of male religious with 95 religious, 32 houses of female religious with 485 religious.
It was erected on 13 March 1776, its territory being separated from the archdiocese of Strigonia. It belonged to the ecclesiastical province of Agria (Eger) until 1937, when it became immediately subject to the Holy See. Its territory was reduced after 1920, when, as a consequence of the new State frontier, several parishes passed to the archdiocese of Krakow.
From the end of the 12th century, the provostry of S. was a spiritual centre for the provinces lying far from the see of the archbishop of Strigonia. In the Middle Ages, on the hill opposite the powerful castle of S., there arose that complex of buildings which, surrounded by enclosing walls, has survived to the present day as an autonomous special municipality, under the name of Spišská Kapitula (Chapter of S.). It contains the imposing provost church, now the cathedral of S. Martin, partly Romanesque in style (13th century) and partly Gothic (1472–93), the episcopal residence, the canons’ residences, the diocesan seminary, and the teacher-training institute, directed by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, who also have their scholasticate there.
The head of this municipality, composed almost exclusively of men, is a canon.
The ancient monumental city of Levoča (v.) lies within the territory of the diocese. The distinctive feature of the province of S. is its Gothic churches with two naves, with a row of columns in the centre.