Nitra Castle

Nitra was the seat of the first Christian church in the region and appears in the record earlier than anywhere else in Slovakia, with a church consecrated here in 828. The castle on the hill holds the cathedral, which is three churches joined together from different centuries, a bishop's palace, and walls and bastions around them. The upper town below the gate keeps a run of Baroque houses and the diocesan library.

History

People fortified the castle hill in the Bronze Age, about 1,600 BCE, the Celts settled it in the 1st century BCE, and Slavs lived here permanently from the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries. The castle was built in the 11th century, and its cathedral joins the Romanesque church of St Emmeram of that century, a Gothic upper church of the 14th century and a lower church of the 17th (Wikipedia, Nitra Castle).

What you'll find

• The cathedral - three churches of different periods joined into one building.
• The castle walls - bastions and gate around the hilltop complex.
• The upper town - Baroque houses on the slope below the castle gate.
• The Corgon statue - the figure on a corner of the seminary, touched for luck.

When to go

April to October is the main season. The cathedral keeps service hours and closes for services. Museums close on Mondays.

Things to know

The cathedral is an active place of worship and closes to visitors during services. Much of the castle interior is diocesan property and not open. The lower town is workaday.

Nearby

Topolcianky is northeast, and Bratislava is southwest.

Key facts