Slovakia

About Slovakia

What to See and Do

Bojnice castle
The gem of Bojnice is the ”fairy-tale” Bojnický zámok Castle, one of the most visited and most beautiful castles not only in Slovakia, but also in central Europe. The Castle stands on a large travertine monticule on the site of medieval castle from the 11th century. In the past, the most famous Hungarian noble families owned it and the last of them was the family of Palffy. Count Jan Palffy had the structure reconstructed by the architect J. Hubert from Budapest at the end of the 19th century following the pattern of romantic castles of the Loire in central France. The typical silhouette of the romantic image of medieval castle is enhanced by steep roofs of the palace, chapel and towers.
Collections of artistic and historical museum are concentrated in the interior of the castle. Among them is the original furniture and the artistic collection of the Pálffys from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the most valuable item of national importance is the Late-Gothic altar of Bojnice made by Nardo di Cione Ortagna, artist from Florence in the mid-14th century. The visit to the castle includes that of dripstone cave under the Castle that communicates with the 26-m deep castle well.

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Bratislava castle
The monumental building of Bratislava Castle is visible from a great distance. Certainly, every visitor of Bratislava notices the pronounced silhouette. The majestic impression is enhanced by the hill it stands on some eighty-five metres above the water level of the Danube.
It was an important fortified settlement in the last third of the 9th century as it is mentioned in the Salzburg annals in relation to a bloody battle between the Bavarians and early Magyars. First, there was a pre-Romanesque stone palace in the 11th and 12th centuries. Generous reconstruction of the castle started in 1423 during the rule of Sigismund of Luxembourg. The result of this reconstruction was a Gothic castle referred to in literature as a Sigismunds castle.

Reconstruction of the castle called Palffys was carried out in the period of the fading Renaissance style. The last stage of big building adjustments of the Bratislava Castle was accomplished under the orders of Queen Maria Theresa. She had removed all fortifying elements and simultaneously improved or widened its residential function complying with the criteria of what was then considered the utmost luxury.

The most interesting building though was that of Theresianum built next to the eastern side of the palace in 1768. This lovely Rococo palace was the seat of the Governor, Prince Albert, who acquired the office after he married Archduchess Maria Christina, daughter of Queen Maria Theresa. The couple, as art lovers, started to collect art works, which later became part of the known Viennese gallery Albertinum.

In May 1811, a devastating fire burst out in the castle and soon spread to the Podhradie, the settlement below the castle. For the next hundred and fifty years the people had to tolerate the sad picture of the destroyed castle on top of the hill. Reconstruction of the castle place was finished only in 1968.

Some parts of the castle are open to the public. They contain permanent exhibitions of the Slovak National Museum. There is an exhibition of historical furniture, historical clock in the main palace and a remarkable collection of exhibits called the Jewels of Slovakias Remote Past. Exhibits documenting the history of musical instruments are displayed in the Luginsland bastion. The Treasury with independent entrance next to the courtyard enshrines the oldest item - almost 25 thousand year old statue of Venus of Moravia, ideal women of that epoch.

Theatre performances, Shakespeares festival and concerts are organized at the castle courtyard in summer.

Part of the castle area is the park where the stone foundations of the Great Moravian basilica are displayed. The walk through the park offers different views of Bratislava including that of the modest statue of St Elisabeth, who was born at castle of Bratislava in 1207. However, the oldest, Crown Tower provides even more charming view of the city with its environs.

Access: by car and public transport to the castle, on foot from city centre (it takes about 15 minutes)

Castle of Trencin
The Castle of Trencín built on top of a steep rock is undoubtedly the dominant of the town Trencin. The Castle, which is along with those of Spis and Devin one of the biggest in Europe, is the National Cultural Monument.

It was the royal castle from the 11th century. The bulky fortifying system is the result of progressive perfection of an important boundary fort, later seat of the county

The existing Castle consists of a set of palaces and its characteristic Matusova veza tower. Apart from them, visitors also like to see the Delova basta bastion, castle lapidary, and dungeon. Varied exhibitions, medieval games and attractive night sightseeing are organised at the castle throughout the year.

Access: driving to a parking lot in the city centre, then walking about 15 minutes

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Manor house of Betliar
North-west of Roznava in the east of Slovakia, in the valley of the Slana river is the two-storied manor house Betliar with four corner towers. It is a stately hunting manor surrounded by a wonderful English park with romantic structures including an artificial cave and waterfall.

Its interior is equally interesting, as it contains a picture gallery, musical and hunting halls, a library, antique furniture and exotic collections.

The manor house inhabited by the noble family of Andrassy was built in the valley of the Betliarsky potok brook below the slopes of the Volovske vrchy Mts. on the site of the original Bebek castle from the 15th century. Part of construction material of this castle was used for building the Renaissance-Baroque single-storied manor house in the 17th -18th centuries. The appearance of the manor house, as we know it now, is from the end of the 19th century.

One of the most remarkable things about the manor house is its library. Leopold Andrássy founded it in 1790. Furniture and interior of the library are from the same time. The library contains more than 20 thousand volumes of theological, historical, geographical and philosophical literature of the 15th to 19th centuries, written in 15 different languages.

The Andrassy family inhabited the manor house until 1945. It was nationalised after the Second World War but it conserves its original furniture and was converted to the Museum of dwelling culture. The area of the English park (81 hectares) makes it one of the largest in Slovakia and it is inscribed in the list of the world historical gardens.

The Krasna Horka Castle is situated east of Roznava. It stands on top of the conspicuous denuded mountain, which dominates in the Roznavská kotlina basin. The main attraction though is the embalmed body of Sophia Andrassy-Seredy lying in the chapel. Writer Mor Jokai used the motif of the mummy in his novel The White Lady of Levoca.

The original Gothic castle was built around 1320. The courtyard of the upper part of a rather small castle with triangle-shaped ground plan still survives. Fortifications were added to castle in time of the Turkish threat. It was when the interior of the castle was also made more habitable and when it acquired the form as we know it now. Fortifications including three canon bastions and a cannon terrace are in the Renaissance style.

Three generations of the Andrássy family tried to obtain the Castle and finally succeeded in 1642. In 1735, the area in front of the castle gates was adapted and the small Baroque chapel of St John Nepomuk was built there.

In the second half of the 18th century, one of the bastions was rebuilt into the Baroque-Classicist chapel of Nativity of the Virgin Mary. There is the painting of black Madonna also referred to as the Virgin Mary of Krásna Hôrka, the reason of processions, on the main altar of the chapel.

The castle houses the exhibition of the Museum of Betliar, which illustrates the history and development of the castle, as well as the way of life of nobles in the past. As the castle with its original furniture is one of the best preserved in Slovakia, it is worth visiting. The castle kitchen and the collection of arms are of special interest.

By the end of the 20th century, an imitation of the medieval park was made next to the castle, where the “Castle Games” are staged every year.

Access: driving as far as the castle, on foot from the village Krásnohorské Podhradie following the yellow hiking mark (it takes about 30 min.)


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