We only had to go about 200 meters from our Hostel to get into the most appealing parts of the Bratislava Old Town. A gold location really.

We just love those old cobbled street stones and the whole historical atmosphere. It suddenly felt like we were in a small town, a couple of hundred years ago.

Only thing is, Bratislava isn’t particularly small. It’s Slovakias capital and has about 427.000 inhabitants with an area of 367.584 km² (142 sq mi)….

It sure is old, it’s mentioned for the first time in the year of 907, so no wonder why it’s so rich of history. I just love one of the names it had back then: Brezalauspurc. It sounds like a fairytale name! Since then it has had many names.

Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia at the banks of the Danube River and is bordering Austria and Hungary – the only capital that borders two countries. Bratislava and Vienna is also the two closest European capitals.

The Old Town Hall at the Main square is actually several buildings transforming during Renaissance and Baroque time after earthquake damage and a fire. The principal building close to to the tower is from the 14th century, the tower (originally Gothic) from late 13th century and the Neorenaissance/Neogothic wing from 1912.

Today it hosts Bratislava City Museum and in the evenings in summertime, the courtyard is hosting concerts. Something were going on the evening when we were there too, but it looked more like a movie or something. We didn’t stop to watch it since we didn’t understand what they were saying.

Bratislava Old Town has a lot of interesting architecture, with some very nice stucco along with nice statues and sculptures. The whole impression is very appealing to the eye. Even the occasional worn down buildings is kind of charming. It was very nice to stroll around there finding things to see and easy to find your way around.

One of their bronze sculptures is Napoleonec by Juraj Meliš, which is standing in the Main square. He is a witness of love couples sitting on the bench which he is leaning on. Probably a memorial of when Napoleon’s army was in Bratislava 1805. Napoleon could also have been among those soldiers.

There is also the famous Cumil by the sculptor Viktor Hulik, who was asked in 1997 to create a sculpture as a symbol of the reconstructed Korzo (old town). It’s situated in the corner of Rybarska brana (Fishermen’s gate), Panska and Laurinska street.

Cumil is spending his time watching people and the life of the Korzo…. or some people say that he is a pervert spending his day looking up under passing women skirts! What do you think? *giggles*

The Paparazzi sculpture is made by Radko Macuha and is photographing the street from behind the corner of Laurinska St. He is situated beside the door of the restaurant with the same name. I wonder how many celebrities he’s spotted there?

St. Michael’s Gate is the only gate that has been preserved of the medieval fortifications and ranks among the oldest town buildings. Along the street there were several restaurants. It was a very nice temperature to sit outside for dinner or drinks!

I loved the magnificent Neo-Renaissance Slovak National Theatre too, at Hviezdoslav Square close to the Danube river. Built 1885–1886 based on a design by the Viennese architects Nándor Fellner and Henrik Helmer, who also designed theater buildings in many other European countries.

So did I do any heavy shopping? No, remember that we only had handluggage with us? There were only one shop that I couldn’t resist go into: Twigi at Klariská St. It was because of the shop windows….

Though I didn’t buy anything. Mostly because they didn’t have the clothes I fancied in my size. *bummer*

It’s true what TorAa said in an earlier comment at my blog: Bratislava is a secret capital of Europe – with lot’s of culture and I can only agree that it does takes more than our 24 hours to explore it, this only gives you a hint how it is there.

I use to say that to tourist a city, you have to be there for at least 4 days as a minimum, to really have time to get something out of it. Of course, if going to museums and other attractions, you may need even more than that.

Before going there, I truly recommend to read up about Bratislava, to really understand what you’re seeing or what you should see. I think that one could miss a lot if not doing that.

The rest you have to see in Lifecruiser’s Bratislava photos 2008.

Something missing? Yes, we did of course wear away walk up the hill to the Bratislava Castle, gasping after beer air in the heat…
(to be continued…)

Lifecruiser ♥ Bratislava
 
 
Great information links about Bratislava: