One of the oldest documented castles in writing in Slovakia, it is mentioned in the year 826, when Earl Pribina resided there. Today the bastions of the fortified castle stand on the site of the Great Moravian fort from the second half of the 9th century. It was built in the 11th century as the residence of the royal house. From the Roman castle with a palace and temple parts, which have been rebuilt several times, they succeeded in uncovering and, close to the newly built information center in the southeastern part of the castle, to make publicly available sections of several repaired robust fortifications. In the 17th century the castle was damaged by the Turks. There followed a large constructive repair, under which was rebuilt the Episcopal palace, priory and the flamboyantly finished Baroque reconstruction of the Episcopal Cathedral. The construction of the cathedral complex comprises the Romanesque Church of St. Emerám, with the upper one Gothic and the lower one rebuilt in a Baroque style. The artistically decorated interior is by the Viennese builder D. Martinelli and the painter G. A. Galliarti. During recent changes to the interior of the Lower Church the Altar of the Descent From the Cross from 1622 by J. Pernegger was moved to its western part, because behind it there was discovered and uncovered a fresco with the motif of the death and coronation of the Virgin Mary from the second half of the 14th century. This work of the unknown, most probably a Central European master, complemented the no longer existing altar of the Virgin Mary. The castle is still the seat of ecclesiastical administration.
Photos and video (www.culturalheritage.sk)
Heritage > National cultural monuments
