BRATISLAVA CASTLE
Slovakia
Although on a smaller scale, Bratislava Castle dominates the capital City of Slovakia in the same way that Prague Castle dominates that of the Czech Republic.
Although Bratislava has spent the last century or so playing second-fiddle to Prague, the City and the Castle were once more important. The site of the City is on the very edge of the Carpathian Mountains where they slope down to the flat plain of the mighty Danube. A settlement was known to be here in the Stone Age, Celts settled here and the Romans followed making this one of their frontier towns. It seems likely that the Romans built the first fortification on this site as the remains of a building which may be a watch tower have been found.
A Castle was probably built in the 9th century and was certainly quite developed by the time Bratislava fell into the orbit of the Moravian princes. They were succeeded by the Hungarian Kings who re-fortified the site and turned it into their Royal Seat (from where they could keep an eye on their Austrian rivals across the River).
The Tartar hordes arrived in the late 12th century and as a response the Castle was heavily rebuilt in the early 13th. It was at this time that a central fortified tower (quite possibly a Norman-style keep) was built on the site of the present Palace building. In the 15th Century King Sigismund who later became Holy Roman Emperor had the keep demolished and a large courtyard palace built in its place. This formed the basis of the Palace which dominates the Castle today.
More outer defences were added at this time, one portion of which is preserved on the townward side of the Castle, one of the most "castle-like" portions remaining today. When the Turks invaded from the East the new rulers of the Hungarian Empire, the Hapsburgs, chose Bratislava as their capital, the Hungarian Crown Jewels being transferred here from the vulnerable Budapest. During this period the Palace was heavily rebuilt, as were the barracks on the townward side of the Castle. In the 17th century Ferdinand's I and II had the Palace rebuilt giving it it's characteristic form (what the Bratislavan's refer to as "the Dinner Table"). When Maria Theresa became Queen she disliked the Castle and moved her court to Vienna, thereby turning that City into the Roccoco marvel that it is.
On Maria Theresa's death Bratislava Castle lost it's last link with the Hapsburgs when the Hungarian part of the Castle's regalia was moved back to Budapest. From 1802 the Castle became an army barracks and a fire in May 1811 gutted the Palace which remained deserted until the 1950s.
In 1953 a small group of local enthusiasts under the direction of Alfred Piffl started to rebuild the empty ruin, Piffl paid for his enthusiasm by being put in jail as a dissident, but the Communist authorities continued his work and in 1968 the Castle opened as a museum.
© Text copyright - Raving Loony
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2018
