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Bratislava Castle or Hrad sits on a hill overlooking the city. Initially a Roman frontier post, there has been a castle since the 9th century. In 1881, it was reduced to rubble due to a fire and wasn’t reconstructed until the mid 1900s. Its appearance has been likened to an upside down table with four corner towers that look like table legs.
This Bratislava sight is worth a visit for the various rooms of The History Museum and the National Museum as well as the panoramic views over the city.
St. Martin’s Cathedral is Bratislava’s foremost Gothic structure. The church, originally built in the 13th century in the Romanesque style, was replaced by a 3-nave Gothic Dome in the late 14th century.
Then, in the 16th century, the Dome became the coronation church of Hungarian kings. There were 19 Hungarian Emperors including Maria Theresia crowned in the cathedral.
Primatial Palace, built in 1778 is considered as one the most beautiful building in Bratislava. Its pale pink and white exterior is topped with various marble statues. Not only statues but also a large cast iron cardinal’s hat was placed on the roof.
The palace is filled with large oil portraits of Hapsburg royalty. Above all, one from 1742 of Marie Therese at her coronation. Another major attraction in the palace is the ornate Hall of Mirrors. Although built on a smaller scale than Versailles, the Hall is still an impressive sight. Furthermore, Napoleon and Francis I signed the Treaty of Pressberg (Bratislava’s former name) in 1805 there.
It is one of the most beautiful pieces of Art Nouveau architecture in the world. The Second Church of St. Elizabeth is known alos as the Blue Little Church (Modry kostolik). It was built from 1907-1913 according to the design of Hungarian architect Odon Lechner. Today, the Blue Church also has a high school and rectory.
The Blue Church has one nave and a cylindrical tower. The exterior design is of the Hungarian Art Nouveau style. Moreover it is decorated with bright and beautiful blue majolica tiles. Majolica is a tile indigenous to Slovakia and is manufactured in the city of Modra. In addition, the roof is also decorated with glazed blue tiles. Therefore most tourists mark this as most attractive Bratislava sight.
The Old Town Hall arose in the 15th century by connecting several houses. Later went through several reconstructions. After the earthquake of 1599, it was reconstructed in Renaissance style, while the town-hall tower was rebuilt in baroque style in the 18th century.
Moreover, at the bottom, you can find a table with the date of February 1850, marking the high water level when the Danube flooded. Nowdays there is a seat of Municipal museum, the oldest museum in Bratislava.
St. Michael’s Gate and Street are one of Bratislava’s popular sights. The street is lined with many shops and restaurants. Most of the building on the Michalska Ulica (street) date from the 18th century. Hence they have survived several wars, occupations and also Communism.
On the top of the street there is St. Michael’s Gate. It is the only preserved gate of the medieval city fortifications. Its Gothic foundations were laid in 14th century. A statue of St. Michael was placed on the top of the 51-metre high tower. At present, the Museum of Weapons and City Fortifications is located within the tower.
The old building of Slovak National Theatre in the Neo-Renaissance style is located at the end of Hviezdoslav Square. It was built in 1885-1886 during the time of Austria-Hungary. The Building was design by the Viennese architects R. Fellner and H. Helmer. They designed theatre buildings in 10 European countries. Theatre was opened in 1886. A native sculptor Victor Tilgner crafted the famous Ganymede’s Fountain in 1888. It is located in front of the theatre.
A new building of SNT is located next to Eurovea. Due to a lack of funds, the building was under construction with long interruptions for 21 years. The building was finally opened in 2007. It houses all three ensembles of the Slovak National Theatre. Although the ensembles continue to use the old building in the Old Town in parallel.
Devin Castle above the confluence of the rivers Danube and Morava is one of the three oldest historically acknowledged castles in Slovakia. The village of Devin is now a part of Bratislava. The castle played an important role as a boundary fortress as a part of the Limes Romanus fortifications against enemies at the times of the Roman Empire. Also known as military station and trade center at the times of the Great Moravian Empire, the first Slavic state.
Devin Castle has been a National cultural monument since 1961. Nowadays the castle serves as a museum and is considered as one of the most impressive Bratislava sights..
Slovakia’s White House – the home to Slovakia’s President, Grassalkovich Palace was once the home and meeting place for several members of the Austro-Hungarian and Habsburg aristocracy. Grassalkovich Palace was built in the 1760’s by Count Anton Grassalkovich, the President of the Royal Hungarian Chamber and advisor to the Empress Maria Theresia.
The Palace is guarded 24 hours a day by an honour guard who can be seen marching in front of the castle daily by visitors. It is situated in a huge, open park with a Baroque garden that is open to the public, even when the President is in residence.
Novy Most or Most SNP (New Bridge or SNP Bridge) was completed 1971. Unlike most monstrosities of Slovak Communist architecture, the Novy Most with its UFO Tower became an iconic symbol of Bratislava.
If you want more spectacular views of Bratislava and its castle, it is worth a climb up to the observation deck on top of the Novy Most Bridge. Take the elevator 95 meters up to the observation deck. The tower belongs to the World Federation of Great Towers and deffiniotelly to top Bratislava sights.
The Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum is one of the most romantic museums of modern art in Europe. It is situated 20 kilometers south of Bratislava. Museum was founded by Gerard Meulensteen of Eindhoven, a Dutch collector and art patron, and Vincent Polakovic, a Slovak gallerist.
The best time to visit the Danubiana Meulensteen is from May through October. Especially is summer we recommend to take a riverboat cruise from Bratislava’s city center there. Modern art fans will enjoy getting to sample the best works from recent and current Slovak artists. Moreover , the museum also hosts many eclectic, funky, and trendy temporary exhibits throughout the year.
This memorial is dedicated to the Soviet Army soldiers who lost their lives while liberating the city from the occupying Germans.
Slavin lies on a hill just behind the Bratislava Castle. Likewise many people head up here for the views which is certianly exciting too. However the monument, which dates to 1960, is also an interesting example of Stalinist architectural style. We therefore recommend this Bratislava sights with no doubts.
We are a family run business renting self-catering apartments since 2007. We were a pioneer in Bratislava with this product. Comparing to plenty of others we directly manage all apartments, majority we own and this which allows us to be flexible and to provide unbeatable service. We know every apartment personaly and thus we do care of every detail. We also live with our familly in the same area where all our apartments are located too.
All apartments are in The Blue Church area which is one of the most attractive location to live in Bratislava. It is a very pleasant residential area with a walking distance to pedestrian zone as well as to Eurovea or to Bus Station too. It is also accessible by car with available and not expensive street parking which is our competitive advantage to apartments located in historic Old Town with no possibility or very expensive possibility of car parking.
