Danube Interlude - Bratislava, Slovakia

We stopped briefly in Durnstein, Austria, on our Danube River cruise. Durnstein is a picturesque little town perched on a hillside above the Danube, named after the medieval castle high above the town.

Docking at Durnstein

A steep hill leads to the main street of Durnstein, a serpentine street lined with shops and restaurants.

Durnstein Church is on the lower left beside the Danube River. Durnstein Castle is high on the hill above the church, quite a distance upward from the town. 

Durnstein Castle

Richard the Lionheart, King of England, was held captive in Durnstein Castle in 1192. (Richard had offended Leopold, Duke of Babenberg of Austria, during the Crusades.) A huge ransom equivalent to 35 tons of silver and long negotiations allowed Richard to go free. Unfortunately, the castle is now in ruins, and only the most adventuresome from our group attempted the climb. 

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA

Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, was our next stop on the Danube. Slovakia borders Austria and Hungary and has historically been a strategic location in the center of Europe.  Bratislava Castle is a massive rectangular building with four corner towers on a rocky hill above the Danube. The castle has existed since the Middle Ages and has undergone changes and reconstructions ever since. We visited the castle and then the Old Town, very lively on a Sunday afternoon. 

Bratislava Castle, a landmark located high on a hill above the Danube river, overlooks the capital city. A Gothic palace approximately similar to that of the present-day castle was built in the 15th century. However, the castle's site has been inhabited for thousands of years because it is strategically located in the center of Europe and at an important crossing of ancient European trade routes. The first known inhabitants on the castle hill were Celts and Romans, and the castle itself used to serve as a defensive fortification against enemies. Bratislava and its castle became a crucial part of the Hungarian and Austrian Empire. The castle was completely ruined by a fire back in 1811 and reconstructed in the 1960s to become a national cultural monument. A comprehensive restoration project was underway when we visited; as a result, the interior was closed to visitors, but the exterior fortifications and their views over the Danube were panoramic.

A map of the castle complex

Entrance gate at the base of a hill, the most likely place to enter the castle when coming by public transport or car.

Stopping for a view of the courtyard on the way up to the castle

An Information Center, exposition area, restaurant, and rest rooms are located in the courtyard building.

Entrance gate seen from the courtyard

The Vienna Gate, the main entrance to the castle complex, is topped by sculptures of Roman accoutrements of battle, including coats of armor, shields, cannons and cannon balls and heraldic flags.

A bronze statue of King Svätopluk I sits astride his horse in the Yard of Honor/Honorary Courtyard. Svätopluk is remembered as the greatest king of the Great Moravian Empire in the ninth century. The statue was unveiled in June, 2010. A group of Slovak artists protested the sculpture because the statue was commissioned without public discussion from sculptor Jan Kulich, a sculptor prominent during the communist era in Czechoslovakia.

The equestrian sculpture of Svätopluk and guardhouses of the imperial guard on either side of the sculpture with a view toward the castle behind the equestrian statue

Looking over the city of Bratislava from the castle terrace

A view of the UFO bridge from the castle

The Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising, completed in 1972, is commonly referred to as the “SNP Bridge” or the “UFO Bridge.” Its flying saucer-shaped structure houses a restaurant, which is reached using an elevator located in the east pillar.  

The west pillar houses an emergency staircase with 430 stairs. The New Bridge (Nový Most) has four lanes for car traffic on the upper level and lanes for bicycles and pedestrians on the lower level. A large part of the Old Town, including nearly all of the Jewish quarter, was demolished to create the roadway that led to the bridge.

The old Slovak National Theater is the oldest professional theater, consisting of 3 ensembles (opera, ballet and drama), in a Neo-Renaissance building in the Old Town of Bratislava. The busts of famous musical composers are placed in the oval openings in the façade. The stone sculptural group at the top features the Muse Thalia, the Greek goddess of comedy, poetry and dance.

Ganymede’s fountain is situated outside the entrance to the theater. The fountain depicts Ganymede, a handsome Trojan prince being carried off to heaven by Zeus in the shape of an eagle. On Mount Olympus, he was appointed as cup-bearer of the gods and in reward gained eternal youth. 

On our way to visit the Old Town on Sunday Market Day

The Plague Column 

The column was built in 1713 to commemorate the end of a plague that hit Bratislava at the end of 1712, when 3860 people died, and 1561 others were infected. Atop the column is a sculpture of God the Father, God the Son, who crushes the devil with the cross, and the Holy Ghost as a dove in the center of a radiating sun. On the corners of the triangular base are statues of the saints who are protectors against the plague. Two statues on separate pedestals are the Blessed Virgin and Saint Stephen, the first King of Hungary. 

The highest point of the Plague Column is juxtaposed with Saint Martin’s Cathedral spire in the background.

Saint Martin’s Cathedral is the largest and one of the oldest churches in Bratislava, known especially for being the coronation church of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1563 and 1830.

The Holocaust Memorial was erected in 1996 by the Slovak Republic to commemorate the memory of 105,000 Holocaust victims from Slovakia. The memorial consists of an abstract sculpture with the star of David discernible on the top, placed on a black granite platform with “zachor” [remember] and “pamätaj” inscriptions. It symbolizes the violent persecution and deportation of the Slovak Jews during the war.

The adjacent wall with a synagogue image was erected on the site of the former Neolog Synagogue, which was torn down in the Soviet period (not by the Nazis or their Slovak allies) but by the Communist government in 1970 TO MAKE WAY FOR A BRIDGE!!! (my emphasis) The bridge, of course, is the UFO bridge across the Danube.

A side view of Saint Martin’s Cathedral 

The tower of Saint Martin’s originally formed a part of the town’s fortifications, built into the city’s defensive walls. Now, the church is deteriorating due to vibrations caused by heavy traffic on the access ramp to the nearby Nový Most bridge, i.e., the UFO bridge, and the access ramp is at the cathedral’s doorstep.

Our guide, Beata, a native of Bratislava, carries a yellow mum-like flower on the end of a stick. Members of our tour needed only look for this “guidon” held aloft  to locate Bea.

Michael’s Gate, with an onion-domed tower in the Old Town, is the only city gate of the medieval fortifications that has been preserved. 

MAIN SQUARE OF THE OLD TOWN 

Old Town Hall and Museum of City History

The Museum of  City History is in the Old Town Hall building. It is the oldest museum of Bratislava and houses the Baroque Town Hall Tower with clock, which overlooks the Main Square. The museum documents the history of Bratislava from Medieval ages until the 20th century. When you walk inside the building, you will find yourself in a small courtyard.

Museum courtyard

The construction of The Roland Fountain in the Main Square was ordered by Maximilian II, the king of Royal Hungary, in 1572 to provide a public water supply. The fountain is topped by a statue of Maximilian portrayed as a knight in full armor. Many legends are centered on this fountain, mostly featuring Maximilian as the town's protector.

The Palugyay Palace, adjacent to the fountain, was built in the 1870s for an important entrepreneur and wine-grower of that time, Jakub Palugyay. The building was used for the processing and storage of wine and trade in this commodity.

Robert and Becky with Napoleonic soldier

Napoleon and his army were in Bratislava in 1805. As the story goes, this soldier was supposedly going through Bratislava when he fell in love with a local girl, stayed in the city and became a producer of sparkling wine. He was called Hubert – which is also the name of Slovakia’s most popular brand of sparkling wine.

Entrance to the Primate’s Palace

A “Wines of Bratislava” poster at the entrance to the Primate’s Palace

The Primate’s Palace has a pale pink and white exterior. It was built in the 18th century and features large oil portraits of Habsburg royalty, sparkling crystal chandeliers and tapestries. The palace serves as the seat of the Mayor of Bratislava. The Old Town Hall and the Museum of City History are next to it.

The Fountain of Saint George, depicting the knight slaying a dragon, is in the square inner courtyard of the Primate’s Palace. Legend has it that St George saved the virgin Dubravka from the dragon, and as a reward gained her hand in marriage. Each year, on Saint George’s Day, the stone statue is supposed to come to life, turn around on his horse and bow to the inhabitants of the city.

Bratislava law courts

The French Embassy

Vendors’ tents set up for Sunday market

Sunday market in the Old Town

At the top of the column is the Blessed Virgin with crown and the Child Jesus giving a blessing. Mary is standing on a crescent moon crushing the serpent. Marian columns were built to thank the Virgin Mary for her help in overcoming deadly diseases. A religious monument in the form of a column with a religious figure or symbol at the top was a gesture of public faith that was commonplace in Catholic countries of Europe in the 17th & 18th centuries.

Paprika peppers and products from Kalocsa, Hungary
Kalocsa just happens to be our next stop on the Danube River tour.

“Girl with a Deer” is the smallest fountain in Old Town.

Hans Christian Andersen once visited Bratislava and said, “if you want a fairy tale, look at your city.” A quote from his diary is written on a memorial plaque next to the statue: “Bratislava is a beautiful city full of gorgeous girls and good wine.”  This sculpture, which incorporates characters from his fairy tales and fables,  was made in honor of his visit in 1841. My guess is that the little person sitting on his shoulder and whispering in his ear may be his “inner child.” The large snail at his feet is from the fable, “The Snail and the Rosebush.” The lesson is that you’re supposed to use what you know and better the world in some manner (the rose bush produced beautiful blooms), and you should not hide away from the world expecting it to give to you, while you give nothing (the snail retreated into his shell.)

Hviezdoslav Square is one of the best-known squares in the Old Town of Bratislava. Featured on the fountain is a very contemplative-looking man, Pavol Orszagh Hviezdoslav, the most important poet in Slovak history.

There is a small puppet theater in the Old Town of Bratislava. This looks like a musketeer marionette to me.

The most famous statue in Bratislava is probably a bronze statue of a man whose name is Cumil (literally, the watcher) peeking out from under a manhole cover. The odd statue was installed in 1997, and it’s not really known if he is a sewer worker up for a breath of fresh air or a bronze peeping tom.

In each town an area was denoted as “Korzo,” a meeting place for young men and women in the 1950s and 60s Czechoslovakia. In each town an area was denoted as “Korzo” – a block or two of cafes and bars. In Bratislava, Korzo extended from Michael’s gate down to Old Town Square. The Korzo rock memorializes the midpoint.

Our next stop on the Danube cruise was Kalocsa, Hungary. We visited the Paprika Museum, the House of Folk Arts and the Bakod Horse Farm in the countryside outside Kalocsa.