Today, we begin with a brief motor coach tour of the town, including a ride up to the Fortress on a hill high above the city. Several of us had a misconception of the size of Bratislava. This city of nearl 500,000 people is the Capitol city of the country of Slovakia. This country was created from the earlier Czechoslovakia country which in the Velvet Revolution, dissolved the Czech country into to two separate countries; Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czechoslovakia country under Russian rule was home to peoples with different histories as well as different cultures and they were happy to separate.This occurred in 1989 as the Soviet Union was crumbling. For over 1,000 years this area was under Hungarian rule until 1918, after WW I. ( several of us have discussed how valuable it would have been if we had studied European history before we took this trip. However, on the other hand, most likely it wouldn't have made near as much sense as it does with a local guide and walking the ground with the history. )
Rebuilding as well as restoration of this Fortress
was just completed in 2011-- in time for a Summit meeting
between President George Bush and Puttin. The Fortress
has been victim of many fires through the centuries
( begun in 1430) and today looks much newer than
the oldest parts. In the photo below, look carefully,
and you can see one of the old Gothic windows left from an older building.
Photos below depict the Cathedral of St. Martin,
for centuries, the coronation church of the Kings
of Hungary. Interior is mostly Gothic with a few baroque
additives.
Considering this was a coronation church, it is
surprisingly lacking in much of the gothic
ornamentation we have seen all over Europe.
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