BRATISLAVA (PRESSBURG, POZSONY). - Capital of Slovakia, on the Danube, on the slopes of the Carpathians.
It was a Roman camp; then in the 9th century a castle of Great Moravia, and later part of Hungary. In 1095 we have the first record of the provostship of B., with almost episcopal jurisdiction over part of the archdiocese of Esztergom.
B. flourished especially in the 16th-18th centuries. From 1536 to 1791 the kings of Hungary were crowned there. The castle on the Danube was an imperial residence until 1780; then Joseph
II moved the court to Vienna and founded there the seminary that remained until 1802. Until 1848 it was the seat of the national diets. In the 19th century the importance of B. steadily declined, until 1918, when it became the principal city of Slovakia, indeed its capital between 1939-45. Before 1918 it had about 50,000 inhabitants, in 1947 about 173,000 (Slovaks, Germans and Hungarians).
The principal monuments are: the royal castle (in ruins), the collegiate church of St. Martin (1350-1452), where the archbishops of Esztergom crowned the kings of Hungary; there is the tomb of St. John the Almsgiver (v.); the Franciscan church (1297), the Gothic church formerly of the Poor Clares (15th century), the church of the Most Holy Trinity (1717-1725) with a perspective dome by A. Galli Bibiena (1736), the palace formerly of the primate of Hungary (1781, now the town 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 it is the capital, it has no residential bishop. Until 1922 it belonged to Esztergom, now it depends on Trnava. The ancient provostship has a Chapter of 12 canons, one of whom is auxiliary bishop of Trnava. Since 1936 it has had the major seminary and the theological faculty, a central office of Slovak Catholic Action (UKK-now suppressed), a university college "Svoradov," for 400 students, a stronghold of Slovak Catholicism (now confiscated), the central institute "Caritas," etc. There is found the mother house of the Daughters of the Most Holy Savior, 11 male and 20 female religious houses.
In the surroundings of the city rise the ruins of Devin castle, one of the probable sites of the center of Great Moravia and of the burial of St. Methodius (v. CYRIL and METHODIUS). Nearby is the Marian shrine: Marianka, with the ancient monastery of the Pauline monks (1377), now of the Consolers of the Sacred Heart. It is a pilgrimage destination.
Bibliography5 works
Michele Lacko