Trip to Bratislava: Bratislava Castle

The most famous landmark of Bratislava

The Bratislava Castle from the historic center (zoomed in).

The Bratislava Castle (or Bratislavský hrad) is a huge castle on a hill above the old part of Bratislava, overlooking the Danube river in the south and the medieval part on the east. I must say it's one of the most impressive castles I've ever seen and that's due to its size. When it comes to interesting elements, the castle's facade looks a bit plain, especially today, when the whole complex is being renovated.

This castle is definitely the landmark of Bratislava. It's seen from many corners of the city and it's one of the symbols of Slovakia. The image of the castle is featured on Slovakian 10, 20 and 50c Euro coins (source). From 2008-2013 the castle is being meticulously renovated and when finished, it is supposed to look like on the image on the left (source). I definitely want to return in few years to see the newly renovated castle. Read the history of Bratislava castle here>>

Let me show you my photos of the way up to Bratislava castle and the magnificent view we had over the most parts of the city.

✰ Up to the castle

The road up is partly narrow and steep, but not tough to master.

A nice mermaid statue along the way. Sadly, it's full of graffiti, like most of Bratislava.

The first view of the old city was promising. We continued to go up.

This is the Nicholas gate before the Lugisland bastion.

Another view of the fortifications below the main palace.

✰ Slavín war memorial

Slavín, a famous war memorial, is seen from this part. See a bigger photo here>>

✰ Bratislava castle

And then we finally saw it: The massive Bratislava castle amids renovations.

Another view.

Two sides.

A proud Slovakian flag at the main entrance of the castle.

This detail is interesting.

The main entrance.

The Leopold's gate at the end.

Posing for my readers ;-) See how small I look compared to the castle?

✰ Statue of Svätopluk

Statue of Svätopluk I, King of Great Moravia in the 9th century.

The Svätopluk statue from behind. His pose is directed towards Austria. Will he attack? ;-)

✰ View over Petržalka

The river Danube and the Western part of Petržalka.

Nový Most and Eastern Petržalka, Bratislava's biggest borough.

My princess from the Far East :-)

The Nový Most or New Bridge over the river Danube.

Had to zoom the top of the UFO restaurant on the New Bridge, cuz it's fun.

✰ View over the old Bratislava

Nice view over the southern part of Bratislava's historic center.

The Old Town hall at the Main Square and the St. Martin's Cathedral on the right.

This is Bratislava. Do you like it?

✰ Bratislava in conclusion

We spent one afternoon in Bratislava and we liked the city, but only if by city you mean buildings. But we didn't like the people, who were mostly unfriendly or looked a bit annoyed. Did we take too many photos? Are Bratislavans generally not nice to foreigners or interracial couples? Of course that's hard to say, because we only met few. I'm sure there are many friendly Bratislavans, but I have to yet meet some. The city really has a rich history and a lovely old part, which is clean and neatly renovated. So is the castle. But the further you are from the center, the dirtier it gets. And there are a lot of graffiti everywhere, which is a pity. Makes the city look bad.

The highlights of the trip were: The Old town, the food and the castle. I would definitely return to Bratislava on a short trip from Vienna, but I'd not go to Bratislava as the main destination. I want to see how the renovations of the castle and the St. Martin's Cathedral will proceed and I also want to try the traditional Slovak dish bryindzové halušky again. Well, just when we thought we'll have a happy end in Bratislava, something happened: The Kofola incident. More about that on my green blog soon.

St. Martin's <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> The Kofola incident

[Bratislava map][All photos by MKL except where otherwise noted, 2010]
[Slovakia is not Slovenia][Ps: I know my watermark has a typo =.=]

Trip to Bratislava: Cumil and Hviezdoslav Square

From Main Square to Hviezdoslav square

When you leave the Main Square, you encounter another quirky street statue named Schöne Náci. This was actually a real person (schöne German for beautiful, Náci short for Ignac Lamar) from the early 20th century, a mentally ill man, who walked around Bratislava and greeted people in his velvet frock and by courteously bowing to them and using the phrase Küss die Hand (I kiss your hand) in Slovakian, German and Hungarian (source). Another famous street statue is Cumil (The Watcher), a statue of a man looking out of the gutter and with his own street sign nearby that says "Man at work" (in English mind you!). I wonder what is his work, since all he does is observing the passers-by :-) Cumil is probably the most famous street statue in Bratislava and there are usually tons of tourists taking photos near the statue. I had only few seconds to snap a photo of him without someone squatting nearby.

On the way to Hviezdoslav Square.

The famous Cumil. Is he trying to peep under girls' skirts? :-P

Asian family trying to take photos near the real Cumil. There is also a fake Cumil, who wants money, if you want to take a photo with him. Now tell me, why in the world would I want to pay to take a photo of a real person dressing up as Cumil, if I have the real Cumil 2m away for free? Somehow I felt his business idea is flawed. And I only saw crowds of people taking pics around the real Cumil, not the fake one... sheesh... funny Slovakian.

This is one of the biggest squares in Bratislava: Hviezdoslavovo námestie.

The beautiful building of the Slovak National Theatre is here as well.

Hviezdoslav: A famous Slovak poet, writer and translator (1849-1921).

The Hviezdoslav Square is very long and full of trees, it's almost like a park. There are many restaurants on the right side, where we had our lunch. Later we went straight up to the New Bridge and the Bratislava castle.

But before we went to the castle, we went to a Slovakian restaurant to try the famous Bryndzové halušky. And that was an experience to remember. Wait for my next post, which will be about the food.

Main Square <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> Shocking experience

Related: [Bratislava map][Slovakia is not Slovenia][My Travels][All photos by MKL, 2010]

Trip to Bratislava: Main Square

Bratislava's lovely square at the heart of the old town

One of Bratislava's landmarks: The Old Town Hall.

The Main Square (or Hlavné námestie) is a lovely little square at the very central part of Bratislava's historic center. The square is full of historic buildings like the Old Town Hall (Stará radnica). The gothic tower with the yellow facade dates in the 13. century, but the whole Town Hall consists of several buildings, which were completed at different times (15th, 18th and 20th century (source)). There are also few embassies located nearby, such as the Greek, Japanese and French embassy. The famous Roland Palace in Jugendstil (or Palác Uhorskej eskontnej a zmenárenskej banky) from 1911 is located here as well and stands out as one of the taller and more notable buildings (source). The famous Roland Fountain from 1572 (or Maximiliánova fontána) can also be found on the main square and it's a very popular meeting point for locals nowadays and in the past (source). The square was that day full of tourists and they also have many street vendors selling souvenirs and greeting cards here. We bought some.

The souvenir shops at the main square (overpriced like in any city).

The Old Town Hall's main tower.

Old houses at the Main Square.

The building at the center (yellow facade) is the Roland Palace.

The Roland Fountain (or Maximilian Fountain) in front of the Roland Palace on the left.

Statue of Maximilian II above the fountain.

Bratislava is also full of interesting street statues such as the Napoleon's soldier.

Ps: That girl looks cute, doesn't she? ^_^

After walking around the Main Square and taking tons of pics, we left for the Hviezdoslav Square, where we had a very "interesting" encounter with a Slovakian waiter. Stay tuned.

Michael's Gate <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> Hviezdoslav Square

Related: [Slovakia is not Slovenia][My Travels][Photos by MKL, 2010]

Trip to Bratislava: Michael's Gate

From Hurban Square to Michael's Gate

Bratislava's old town is my favorite part of the city, even more interesting than the castle. I really enjoyed walking around the old streets and discovering hidden treasures like churches and palaces. Most parts of the historic city are very well preserved and restored. The lanes are clean and the paving is new. Some buildings are being renovated currently, most notably the famous St. Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava's main church. Even though the part around the main railway station was dirty and ran down, the old center was totally the opposite of that. I think Bratislava is worth a visit only for the old part. Let me tour you around the historic center of this city:

✰ Hubran Square

This is the first square you see upon entering the old town. It's also a huge intersection with many tram tracks and electrified lines for trolleybuses.

Leading to the eastern side of the old center.

Leading to the western side of the old center and to the castle.

A prominent sight on the Hurban Square is the Baroque Trinity Church (or Trinitársky kostol), which was built between 1717-1727. It's easy to spot and to remember, because it has three tops and two towers (source).

✰ Michael's Gate

There was a gate at this part of Bratislava already end of 14th century and stood here until 1534, when it was completely removed. The current building with a church like tower (51m tall) was completed in 1758 and named Michael's Gate (or Michalská brána). A statue of St. Michael was added in relation to a St. Michael's church uptown and that's where the gate got its name (source). Michael's gate is one of the landmarks of Bratislava.

The onion shaped top of Michael's gate.

Street vendors near the Michael's Gate.

A wine shop.

The top of Michael's Gate with the clock and the observatory.

Michael's Gate closeup.

This is what you see when you walk through Michael's Gate.

Many fancy restaurants, mostly occupied by tourists.

The southern facade of Michael's Gate.

Michael's Gate from afar.

This street leads to the Main Square of Bratislava.

After walking around the northern part of Bratislava's old center, we went to the central part and arrived at the famous Main Square. More about that in my next post. Stay tuned.

Presidential Palace <- BEFORE ✰ NEXT -> Main Square

Related: [Slovakia is not Slovenia][My Travels][All photos by MKL, 2010]