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Bratislava
Castle, the symbol of secular power, is
dominating the hill over Bratislava.
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Under
the castle there is another symbol of the
power of Church in the middleages, the
St. Martin's Cathedral.
St. Martin's Cathedral is built
where an original Romanesque church had
stood. The building was started after the
year 1221 and continued in the 14th and
15th century. The cathedral had an unique
position in the former city as it was
built into the city walls as a part of
the city fortification. When Bratislava,
after the battle at Mohacs in 1535,
became the capital of Hungary for more
than three centuries, the cathedral
became the coronation cathedral of the
Hungarian kings. The most famous of them
was Maria Terezia.
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Grassalkovich
palace was built in 1970. Nowadays the
seat of the President of the Slovak
Republic.
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The
summer archbishop palace - a baroque
building.
Nowadays the seat of the Office of the
Presidium.
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The
Primatial palace is the most significant
classicistic palacein Bratislava. This
primate seat was built in 1778-81.
According to the plan of the architect
Melchior Hefele. In Mirror hall, the
Pressburg truce was signed between Franz
I. and Napoleon in 1805.
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Bratislava is the capital
of the Slovak Republic and seat of the President,
goverment, legislature and other central
authorities. The economic, social and cultural
hub of Slovakia and home to numerous institutes
of leading research and higher education,
scientific and cultural organisations
Bratislava, named
after the Slavic prince Braslav, has a rich history. Its
castle was built in the early 10th century as a princely
Greatmoravian castle. From the 13th century bratislava is
a treasury of priceless art and cultural monuments. King
Mathias Corvinus found the first univerzity, the Academia
Istropolitana, in the 15th century. In the 16th century
Bratislava became the corronation seat for 250 years and
the capital of Hungary for 300 years.
Bratislava was also one of the centres of the national
awarness forming of the Slovaks. It was here where the
fist Slovak newspaper was printed.
From 1919 when Bratislava became the main centre of
Slovakia it has grown bigger fast.
Each era changed the city but it was changed most in the
last 50 years. According to statistics Bratislava had a
population of 93 thousand in 1921 and 140 thousand in
1945.
Nowadays Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, the seat
of the President, of the Presidium, of the Parlament and
other central authorities and offices. It is a
significant social and cultural centre of Slovakia. With
over 500 thousand inhabitants Bratislava becomes a modern
european metropolis.
The location of Bratislava predestines it to be a
significant international trade and social centre. It
lies where the Slovak Republic borders Austria and
Hungary. It's 2 km far from the Austrian and 13 km from
the Hungarian border. The border to the Czech Republic is
about 70 km from Bratislava. This location (60 km from
Wienna, 200 km from Budapest and 390 km from Prague) made
Bratislava to the middleage crossing of roads from North
to South (from Scandinavia to the Balkan countries) and
from West to East (to Ukraine and Russia). The river road
connects it with the Black sea in the Southeast and the
Baltic sea in the North.
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Slovak
National Theatre stands on the Hviezdoslav
square. The opera ensemble and the drama company
of the SNT are well known over the Europe.
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The
ruins of the Devin castle appeal impressively
until these days. Devin was very important as a
border fortress over the confluence of the rivers
Danube and Moravia. A great number of burial
sites gives the evidence of old cultures and
settlements in this area in the Antiquity and an
important Slovak castle in the 9th century. Today
the Devin castle is a favourite excursion site
10km from Bratislava centre.
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