NITRA, Diocese of. - Diocese in Slovakia, established in 880 as a suffragan of the metropolis of Pannonia, when Pope John 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 the year 1024, as a suffragan of the metropolis of Esztergom, and 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 Czechoslovakia.

NITRA, Diocese of - Castle formerly of the princes of Great Moravia, now the seat of the bishop of N. (14th-18th century).(phot. Karol Plicka)

The Cathedral was always in the castle of the princes of N., but after the end of the principality the castle also became the residence of the bishop, and so it remains to this day. In the castle of N. a Christian church was built, consecrated around the year 833. It is debated whether the present structure dates back to the 9th century. There were buried Sts. Andrew Svorad Zoerardus and Benedict, Benedictine monks, killed in 1012 at Skalka, who are now the patrons of the Cathedral. Next to the small church, Bishop Melko had the great Gothic Cathedral built in 1328, which was then decorated inside in the Baroque style in 1732.

Of the bishops of N. the most distinguished are: Melko, of the Polish Piast princes (1328-34); Zaccaria Mošovský (Mosóczy; 1582-87), a noted humanist; Agostino Roskováni (v.; 1859-92) and Carlo Kmetko (v.; 1920-48).

Statistics: area: 5239 sq. km.; of 506,959 inhabitants, 465,323 Catholics; 151 parishes, 277 diocesan priests, 14 male religious houses with 192 religious, 38 female with 653 religious.

Bibliography4 works

BIBL.: J. Kompánek, N., Ružomberok 1895; A. Stranský, Dejiny biskupstva nitrianského od najstarších dĺž až do konca stredového (History of the bishopric of N. from its beginnings to the end of the Middle Ages), Tirnava 1933; J. Hodál, Kostol Privinov v Nitre (The Church of Privina at N.), Nitra 1933; Schematismus cteri dioecesis Nitriensis pro anno 1947, ibid. 1947.

Michele Lacko

@incollection{ec8_nitra_diocesi_di, author = {Lacko, Michele}, title = {Nitra, diocesi di}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {VIII}, pages = {1900--1901}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/nitra-diocesi-di} }

One of some 20,000 entries brought back from the twelve printed volumes (1948–54). Spotted something? Help us improve it.

Nitra, Diocese of

About this entry