Romanesque and Gothic power
Strategically located at the heart of Europe, Slovakia has been a constant target for the biggest empires. No wonder then that the most important witnesses of the Romanesque and Gothic styles are military. Spiš Castle is one of the most extensive groups of buildings from the 13th and 14th centuries in Europe. Today it is in ruins, but it is still an imposing witness of Slovak history. While the fortifications are Romanesque, the basilica and chapels are Gothic. Not far away, the town of Levoča, asuperb fortified city, is home to a Gothic jewel: the church of St. James. The town of Bardejov offers us a very beautiful example of medieval urbanization with a regular division of the streets centered around a vast market place. Note the beautiful 15th century bourgeois houses that surround the square. And don't miss the Saint-Egide church, a Gothic basilica with three naves that majestically closes the square. In Banská Štiavnica, atown founded in 1255 and nicknamed the "Pearl of the River Hron", the Old Castle is an astonishing castle-church restored in the Gothic style, but with a three-nave Romanesque basilica. In Skalica and Šivetice, you can admire sober and massive round churches, typical of the Romanesque period with their circular floor plans and bell domes. Another Romanesque jewel is the Church of St. Giles in Ilija, whose beautiful stone portal can be admired. In Bratislava, don't miss the superb St. Martin's Cathedral, built between the 14th and 15th centuries in late Gothic style. Note its three naves, its cross plan and above all its elegant 85-metre tower . Another fine example of late Gothic, the Church of St. Nicholas of Trnava, with its majestic three-nave nave and its superb bell towers soaring towards the sky. In general, the shift in military architecture from Romanesque to Gothic can be seen in the transition from austere, purely defensive architecture to buildings that are certainly fortified but leave more room for decoration. In religious matters, this transition is illustrated by the passage from massive buildings to lighter, vertical and luminous structures.From Renaissance to Rococo
The Town Hall in the centre of Bardejov Square is one of the few witnesses entirely designed in Renaissance style. However, the contribution of the latter can be seen in touches on some buildings from earlier periods, such as the Bratislava Castle Chapel, or the Kammerhof in Banská Štiavnica, an astonishing collection of various buildings grouped together in the 16th century into a single powerful building where gold and silver ores were weighed and valued. TheBaroque left more buildings, starting with the beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Trnava. Its large nave-hall and imposing towers are typical of the style used by the Counter-Reformation to edify the faithful. Examples of late Baroque include the Grassalkovitch Palace in Bratislava, the largest building of this style in Slovakia. But perhaps the most astonishing of the Baroque buildings is the manor house in the village of Sankt Anton. Built in 1744, it has four entrances symbolizing the seasons, seven arcades, twelve fireplaces, fifty-two rooms and three hundred and sixty-five windows... Baroque theatricality in all its splendor. The rococo, with its curves and arabesques, succeeded the baroque and can be seen in the stuccoes of the superb Mirbach Palace in Bratislava, whose monumental staircase with its chiselled decorations, like stone lace, can also be admired.Wooden architecture
Rich in beautiful forests, the country very quickly used this resource to build its buildings, especially in the countryside and mountainous areas. The preferred species are the robust beech, spruce and larch. For some houses, the wood is cut in the form of planks, large and thick planks of wood which are then stacked to form a wall. They are pierced so that doors and windows can be inserted. The planks are assembled using a mortise and tenon system that allows the different pieces to fit together securely. The difficulty is greater in houses built with wooden logs that cannot be assembled as easily at the corners. The edges of the house are thus designed by interlacing the logs. In order to protect the wood from the weather and insect attacks, the wood is often covered with a coating made of clay and then painted with white lime or in ochre or bluish tones. To ensure perfect insulation of the house, the gaps that may exist between the pieces of wood are filled with plant moss, carved wood or braided hemp rope. The floor is most often covered with a wooden floor, but can also be left as a dirt floor. As for the roof, it is originally made of tree bark to which flat rocks and moss or grass are added. Later, roofs are covered with wooden tiles. In some areas, roofs may be covered with reeds or straw. Some houses have a stone base. This is particularly the case in mountainous regions, where the base can compensate for the difference in height. The most beautiful examples of this vernacular architecture are to be found in the village of Vlkolínec, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003. In addition to 43 beautiful houses, the village has a belfry, a church and a school. At Čičmany you can admire beautiful houses decorated with geometrical patterns painted in white and creating a beautiful contrast with the dark brown of the wood. The wooden churches and their history are also to be found in the thematic file dedicated to them.Eclecticism and Art Nouveau
and the Palugyay Palace, both built in a majestic neo-Renaissance style. At the turn of the 20th century, a wind of modernity blew over the country and its capital in particular. Slovakia was very close to Austria and Hungary, which were experiencing a major artistic revolution with the advent of Art Nouveau, also known as Secession. The Hungarian architect Ödön Lechner, famous for his curved and voluptuous creations, created the flagship building of Art Nouveau in Bratislava: the Church of St. Elizabeth, nicknamed the "little blue church" because of its blue mosaic and earthenware cladding enhanced with silver motifs. Oval plan and barrel vaults bring softness and fluidity to the whole. Other examples of Art Nouveau in the capital include the Hotel Tulipan with its façade decorated with golden friezes and wrought iron balconies, the Café Roland with its yellow and gold façade decorated with atlantes, and the University, whose decided and severe lines are reminiscent of the style of Otto Wagner, another Secession master.Soviet influence
In terms of architecture, the Soviet era can be divided into two periods. Before 1968, the party left architects relatively free. Their original and innovative realizations must illustrate the modernity of the party. After the 1968 movements supported by many Slovak architects, the party entered an authoritarian phase stopping all creative impulses and demanding monumental constructions, symbols of its almighty power. The great examples of this Soviet architecture can be found in Bratislava: Istropolis, the House of Culture of the union, built between 1956 and 1981, is made of Cuban marble (donated by a certain Fidel Castro), the Freedom Park is a typical example of Soviet urbanization with imposing and impersonal buildings surrounding a square whose center is occupied by a monumental fountain, built between 1967 and 1973, the Slovak National Uprising Bridge (which obviously did not bear that name in the Soviet era) is another example of the time when very little attention was paid to the city's historical heritage. In order to build this 430-meter-long behemoth, a third of the historic center was razed, and today St. Martin's Cathedral is endangered by the vibrations created by the incessant passage of cars. Finally, in 1983, the city acquired a strange inverted pyramid: it is the Maison de la Radio, which is often found in the ranking of the ugliest buildings in the world... a modernity not always enlightened!
