My wonders of my country - SLOVAKIA step #1 | Page 11

Bratislava Castle
Bratislava Castle
Bratislava castle is located in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. The castle has four corner
towers. The castle was built on hill of the Little Carpathians and near of the Danube River. From
castle is beautiful view, u can see Austria and Hungary. Many legends are connected with the
history of castle too. The castle has courtyard with an 80 m. The largest and tallest tower is the
Crown Tower on the southwest corner. The exterior was built in old gothic and renaissance style.
The entrance gate from the 16th century is still the main entrance of east. On second floor is
Slovak National Museum. The historic of castle is very interesting. When Maria Theresa became
the queen of the Kingdom of Hungary in 1740, she was staying a lot of her time in Bratislava Castle.
At first it was the defense castle, but between 1761 and 1766 was castle made to modern royal
residence. The castle was as ruin between 1811 and 1953. The military sold parts of the main
castle buildings as construction materials. Between the two world wars, they had to demolish the
castle, because they wanted to build government offices and a university on the hill, where was
castle. Many parts of the site continued to be used as barracks till 1946. In 1946, was ruin opened
to the public. Two years later was constructed an amphitheatre in the northern part of the castle
site. The amphitheatre was in use for some 15 years. Films were shown there in the summer.
Finally, they decided to reconstruct the castle. Archaeological and architectural research started in
1953. Restoration works began in 1957. The Theresianum has not been restored. The Hillebrandt
building of 1762 was restored around the year 2000. The Slovak painter Janko Alexy was
recognition for the restoration of the castle. The finishing of the restoration was interrupted in
August 1968, when castle was occupied by Warsaw troops.
Author: Matúč Penxa
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