Vino Con Vino: Two Days in Bratislava

Our first stop on our current trip was Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, a country that came into existence in 1993 with the (peaceful) separation of Czechslovaki into Czechia and Slovakia. We flew from Bilbao to Vienna, and from there it is only an hour train ride to Bratislava.

Bratislava is a relatively small city (population around 475,000), and has that type of a feel. We did think the city had very good public transport including trams and buses, which we used extensively. On our first full day in town, we did a walking tour of the city that gave us a good introduction to the overall layout and some of the history.

So, what did we learn? First, during the Hungarian Empire, when Buda (the capital) was taken by the Ottoman Turks, for hundreds of years, Hungarian kings were crowned in St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava (then known by its German name, Pressburg).

Although not vert visible in the picture, at the very top of the steeple is a gold crown on a pillow representing the use of the Cathedral as a coronation church.

We also learned that during the Napoleanic Wars of the early 19th Century, French troops attacked the city with cannons from the other side of the Danube river destroying many buildings, but never entered the city. As a result, the statue of the French soldier in the main square has his eyes covered since he never saw the city. Cheekily, the statue was installed in front of the French embassy.

Finally, we learned that one of the main synagogues of the city (among other buildings) was destroyed in 1967 by the Communist government to build a bridge over the Danube. Many people tried to stop the destruction of this beautiful and historic building, but in the end "city planning" won out over history. Today, the city's Holocaust Memorial stands near the site of the old synagogue.

After the tour, we walked up to Bratislava Castle, which sits on an elevated spot above the city and the Danube.

We did not feel that the castle did a very good job presenting the history of Slovakia, but recognized that Slovakia may be stuggling to describe its own history separate from Hungary and later Czechia, which leads to a less than coherent narrative.

The next day, we hopped on a bus near our hotel, and in 15 minutes were in Devin, which is home to the ruins of Devin Castle. Fortunately, compared to the cold weather of the day before, we had a beautiful day to explore the castle grounds.

The elevated site on which Devin Castle was built overlooking the confluence of the Morava and Danube rivers has been settled since the Bronze Age. Later, the Celts and Romans were here, and there was some form of castle/church here from at least the year 1000. Over time, it was an important part of the Hungarian kingdom as it was a border site with the Germanic kingdoms to the north/west.

The grounds of the castle are very beautiful, and there are parts of some buildings remaining, but as we have noticed with so many castles we have visited, we found it difficult to picture what the castle might have looked like in its heyday.

One of the most interesting things at the castle was an exhibition about Devin's role as part of the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. At this location, the Danube is the border between Slovakia and Austria, which was part of the west. Therefore, during the Cold War there was a strong effort to keep people from attempting to leave Czechoslovakia, which included physical barriers such as barbed wire fences, but also put the town of Devin (at times) in a restricted zone prohibiting anyone from visiting without permission from the government. As time went on, Devin Castle was opened to tourists, which made the job of the Border Patrol more difficult. There were numerous attempts of escape in the Devin area between 1948 and 1989, some of which were successful, but which also led to at least 42 deaths.

After returning to Bratislava, we went to the City Museum, which is in the old City Hall building. Among other things, this allowed us to climb up in the tower we saw on our tour, and learn a bit more about the city and its history.