It was a Roman encampment; later, in the 9th century, a castle of Great Moravia, then part of Hungary. The first mention of the provostship of B. occurs in 1095, with quasi-episcopal jurisdiction over part of the archdiocese of Strigonia.
B. flourished especially in the 16th–18th centuries. From 1536 to 1791 the kings of Hungary were crowned there. The castle on the Danube served as an imperial residence until 1780, when Joseph II transferred the court to Vienna and founded the seminary that remained there until 1802. Until 1848 it was the seat of the national diets. In the 19th century B.’s importance steadily declined until 1918, when it became the principal city of Slovakia and indeed the capital from 1939–43. Before 1918 it had about 50,000 inhabitants; in 1947 about 173,000 (Slovaks, Germans and Hungarians).
The chief monuments are: the royal castle (in ruins), the collegiate church of St Martin (1350–1452), where the archbishops of Strigonia crowned the kings of Hungary and where the tomb of St John the Almoner (v.) is located; the Franciscan church (1297), the former Gothic church of the Poor Clares (15th century), the church of the Most Holy Trinity (1717–1725) with a perspectival dome by A. Galli Bibbiena (1736), and the former palace of the primate of Hungary (1781, now the City Hall).
In 1948 there were: 132,000 Catholics; 25,000 Protestants; 8,000 Jews; 8,000 of other religions; 25 Catholic churches and 11 parishes. Although the capital, it has no residential bishop. Until 1922 it belonged to Strigonia; now it depends on Trnava. The ancient provostship has a Chapter of 12 canons, one of whom is auxiliary bishop of Trnava. Since 1956 it has the major seminary and theological faculty, a central office of the Slovak Catholic Action (UKK—now suppressed), a university college “Svorodov” for 400 students (a stronghold of Slovak Catholicism, now confiscated), the central institute “Caritas,” etc. The motherhouse of the Daughters of the Most Holy Saviour is located there, along with 11 male and 20 female religious houses.
In the vicinity stand the ruins of Devín Castle, one of the probable sites of the centre of Great Moravia and of the burial of St Methodius (v. CYRIL AND METHODIUS). Nearby is the Marian shrine of Marianka, with the ancient monastery of the Pauline monks (1377), now of the Consolators of the Sacred Heart, a pilgrimage destination.