St Martin’s Cathedral, and outside Bratislava to Devin Castle and Gate of Freedom Memorial

Bratislava Day 3 or, Monday. Plans for today, are light, but the weather is perfect, because most museum and such are closed on Mondays in Slovakia, so post office, and then walking down to where we can catch the bus out to Devin and check out some sights along the way. First stop, the post office to mail postcards, not sure who to blame, Slovak posta or USPS, mailed them at the main post office on the 26th of September, and still have not arrived 4 weeks later. The interior of the post office has been remodeled, but still has all the original wood accents and such, with a cool skylight.

Františkánska záhrada

Františkánska záhrada or Franciscan Garden, a little garden between the main Bratislava post office and the Franciscan Monastery, a nice little green spot with a few sculptures. This is a nice place to take a break and relax, have to believe in the past the Franciscan’s used this garden for contemplation and meditation.

Galéria mesta Bratislavy

Galéria mesta Bratislavy or Bratislava City Gallery, this is where we found out that all the museums in Bratislava are closed on Mondays, from a lovely local woman, who gave us some more information on the area.

Pozsonyi katolikusok

Pozsonyi katolikusok or Pozsonyi katolikusok, or pretty church, across from the Bratislava City Gallery, outside normal services, it is not open to the public, more then a little anteroom just inside the front doors. Still a beautiful church.

Primaciálny palác

Primaciálny palác or Primate’s Palace or City hall, I am sure many of you will agree that “Primate’s Palace” with all the money business that can happen in city hall. The main civic buildings surround a nice little square.

St. Martin’s Cathedral

St. Martin’s Cathedral built in the 13th century, has been the goto cathedral for coronations for centuries, so much so that it is referred to as the “coronation church” there have been 18 coronations in the church since 1563. Next to the church stood stood a synagogue that of course was demolished by the communists in 1970, to make room for the SNP bridge, there is a memorial to the synagogue and victims of the holocaust, near where the synagogue stood as I understand it, the synagogue itself was a fairly impressive and imposing structure.

St. Martin’s Cathedral Interior

They really knew how to build a church back in the 13th century, one of the coolest thing is the ceilings, the spans the arches cross, and the skill and artistry of the mason that created that arch 500+ years ago. There are several alters around the chapel, including one the depicts the last days of Jesus. Taking pictures inside these churches, can be challenging if you don’t have the right gear, because there is no flash allowed in anywhere..

Neolog synagogue

After leaving St Martin’s, we went through an underpass to the bus stop, essentially where the Neolog synagogue was before the communists tore it down, and found this poster on the wall, I did a little checking and this is indeed what the synagogue looked like before its demise.

Bus to Devin

A short walk from St Martin’s is what amounts to a central bus stop/transfer station, there were at least 10 different bus routes listed, but unfortunately non of them were the one we needed, bus number 29, after looking around for a bit, I summoned up my best Czech and asked a driver “kde je zastávka autobusu dvadsať deväť” or where is the stop for bus 29, he pointed towards the highway and replied “sto metrov, pri ceste” or 100 meters at the road, a few Dêkuji’s later and a short walk we were waiting for “autobusu dvadsať deväť”, and a 6 mile bus trip to Devin.

The walk to Devin Castle

The bus dropped us off about 3/4 of a mile from the confluence of the Morava and Danube rivers, with a nice walk on a paved flat wooded trail. At the end of the trail are a couple of restaurants/pubs and an ice cream stand, that are only open Friday through Sunday, so no lunch for us. We did not attempt to ~200 meter climb up to Devin Castle ruins, not really our thing, and in my opinion something much more important was at the riverside below.

Pay attention to the sides of the trail it is loaded with beautiful wildflowers, and very large slugs. About half way down the trail is the Mini-zoo Devín which is also a raptor rehabilitation facility, and you guessed it closed on Monday. After you pass the closed on Monday restaurants, you saw a shore concrete wall, which I found out was the noNorthern end of the Bratislava Flood Protection system, they have a system where they install pylons and aluminum slats, to keep the water out.

Gate of Freedom Memorial

As you continue, and pass a large stone wall, you see the Gate of Freedom Memorial, to the 400 people died try to escape communism. on the inside of the pillars are the 400+ names of the the people who died attempting to live free, and in front are 4 plaques in Slovak, German, Russian and English that reads:

DURING THE TERROR THAT IN COMMUNISM THAT 400 PEOPLE WERE SHOT DEAD BY THE IRON CURTAIN
THE IRON CURTAIN USED TO STAND HERE IT CANNOT BE PULLED AWAY, IT CAN ONLY BE CRACKED FOUR HUNDRED PEOPLE SACRIFICED THIER LIFE WHILE FIGHTING FOR THEIR RIGHTS. HUMAN BEING, FREE AND UNLIMITED , DO NOT FORGET THAT FREEDOM OF THINKING , ACTING AND DREAMING IS A VALUE, THAT IS NOT ONLY WORTH LIVING BUT ALSO BRINGING SACRIFICES.

Devin Castle

Devin Castle was built in 864, on top of a 200 meter tall rock, above the confluence of the Morava and Danube rivers. The areas below the castle were heavily fortified during the communist regime to keep the people from escaping to the west. some relics of the terrible past still exist in the area.

Heart of Europe

Heart of Europe is a replica of the original Heart of Europe, made from the barbed wire of the fence that contained the people of Czechoslovakia by the communists. The original was washed away by flooding

Bratislava Day 4 Preview

Well that about wraps up Bratislava Day Bratislava Day Bratislava Day 3, tomorrow we take the train to Bojnice (Bo Nitza) to visit Bojnice castle, here’s a teaser of Bratislava Day 4, Travel day …