Being the largest and the most significant National Cultural Monument managed by the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, the Carthusian Monastery in Červený Kláštor municipality stands out as one of the most remarkable sights of its kind in Slovakia. The monastery’s origins are known to reach back as far as the year 1320, when it was founded by Carthusian monks as a filial convent of the monastery on the Rock serving as refuge in the Spiš region. In 18th century, the monastery underwent some structural modifications marking its present design. The key structures preserved from the past are Gothic church with single nave, Medieval monastery building with refectory and a cloister, so called clock tower, administrative edifices and a large enclosure with partially preserved houses for monks. In terms of artistic and historic value, the most precious wall painting decoration can be found in the church and Medieval refectory.
The monastery stands out as one of the few preserved examples of monastic architecture of Carthusian and Camaldul order in Slovakia. Moreover, it also forms an important part of the European cultural heritage, since it represents some of the easternmost locations of above-mentioned orders. In the past fifteen years, Red Monastery has undergone significant structural refurbishment and functional revitalisation which gave birth to a museum exhibition, expanded and modernised accommodation facilities and revived operation of the original pub in the courtyard. Along with restoration and renovation works, current activities are focusing on implementation of two major projects (one is funded from EEA Grants and the second one is subsidised from INTERREG Programme Poland-Slovakia) aimed at revival of some original functions in the monastery in order to bring back its beauty and purpose.