Братиславський Град Bratislava Castle

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The most famous building in Bratislava, whose image is displayed on souvenirs, is Bratislava Castle, as it is called here, the local castle, which rises on a hill above the city. It consists of four wings connected by four low towers. Hail appeared in Bratislava in the days of the Slavs, the ancestors of modern Slovaks, in the VIII century. Then it was a wooden fortress, which two centuries later was replaced by a stone castle. It was visited by Friedrich Barbarossa, who gathered his armies under the castle grounds to go on a river of conquest. The walls of the fortress were able to withstand the pressure of the Mongols in the XIII century.

The castle has undergone several alterations. It was first rebuilt by order of King Sigismund of Luxembourg, who was interested in building a reliable fortress capable of resisting the Hussites.
Of the buildings of that time, only the Gothic Sigismund Gate has survived, through which almost all tourists enter the castle complex of Bratislava.

Reconstruction of the Gothic fortress into a luxurious castle in the Renaissance style took place in the middle of the XVI century, when the court of the Hungarian monarch settled here. The famous architect Pietro Ferrabosco was invited from Vienna to work on the reconstruction of the castle. At the same time, the treasures of the Hungarian crown were transported to the castle. However, the castle gained its greatest splendor during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa, who settled her daughter and son-in-law here. The palace for a noble couple was rebuilt in the Baroque style.

At the end of the 18th century, Bratislava Castle was given to students of theological seminary, and then was destroyed by Napoleonic soldiers. For 150 years it stood in ruins, until in the middle of the XX century it was restored.
The palace is occupied by two museums - folk and folk music.

In front of the entrance to Bratislava Castle on the square, which is called the solemn courtyard of the castle, in 2010 a monument was erected to the Prince of Great Moravia Svatopluk I, who ruled in 871-894 and was able to unite in one large country many small scattered principalities. The unveiling of this monument immediately caused fierce controversy in the cultural environment of the city and the country. Many historians believe that the appearance of the prince did not correspond to reality: his clothes and weapons did not even remotely resemble the specimens used in the IX century.

The remains of the foundation of the 9th century basilica are preserved on the eastern terrace of Bratislava Castle. Archaeologists discovered them in 1965. It was one of the largest Moravian churches. Remains of buildings of 10-12 centuries of fortification and church purpose and a cemetery were also found.