NITRA, DIOCESE of. — Diocese in Slovakia, established in 880 as a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Pannonia, when Pope Giovanni VIII sent St. Methodius, apostle of the Slavs, back to these regions as his legate. Then it disappeared amid the upheavals of the 10th century and was restored around 1024 as a suffragan of the metropolitan see of Strigonia; it remained juridically in this province until 1937, when it became immediately subject to the Holy See. Politically, it belonged to Hungary until 1918, then passed to Cescolovacchia.
The Cathedral was always in the castle of the princes of N., but after the principality ceased to exist, the castle also became the residence of the bishop, and remains so to this day. A Christian church was built in the castle of N. and consecrated around 833. It is debated whether the present structure dates back to the 9th century. Here were buried the saints Andrea Svorad Zoerar-
dus and Benedetto, Benedictine monks, killed in 1012 at Skalka, who are now the patrons of the Cathedral. Beside the small church, Bishop Melko had the great Gothic Cathedral built in 1328; it was subsequently decorated inside in the Baroque style in 1732.
The most distinguished of the bishops of N. are: Melko, of the Polish Piast dynasty (1328–34); Zaccaria Mošovský (Mosóczy; 1582–87), a noted humanist; Agostino Roskováni (v. 1859–92); and Carlo Kmetko (v. 1920–48).
Statistics: area: 5,239 sq. km; out of 506,959 inhabitants, 465,323 Catholics; 151 parishes, 277 diocesan priests, 14 male religious houses with 192 religious, and 38 female religious houses with 653 religious women.