1.
Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
2.
Bratislava Region
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The Bratislava Region is one of the administrative regions of Slovakia. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders exist from 1996 and it is the smallest of the eight regions of Slovakia as well as the most urbanized. The region is located in the part of Slovakia and has an area of 2,053 km². Major rivers in the region are the Morava River, the Danube and the Little Danube, there are three protected landscape areas in the region, the Little Carpathians, Záhorie and Dunajské luhy. The region borders Trnava Region in the north and east, Győr-Moson-Sopron county in Hungary in the south, Burgenland in Austria in the south-west, the first known permanent settlement of the area of todays Bratislava was the Linear Pottery Culture, around 5000 BC in the Neolithic era. Around 200 BC, the Celtic Boii tribe established an oppidum on the site of todays Bratislava Castle, the Romans established their camp Gerulata on the right bank of the Danube in the 1st century and remained there until the 4th century. The area was part of the Principality of Nitra and later, in the 9th century, from the 10th century onwards, it became part of the Principality of Hungary and almost the whole area was part of Pozsony county. After the break-up of Austria-Hungary in 1918, region was defined in 1923. Bratislava Regio was abolished in 1928 and replaced by a new unit called the Slovak Land. During the WWII Slovak Republic, Bratislava county was restored, albeit with somewhat modified borders, after the restoration of Czechoslovakia, the pre-breakup status was restored. From 1949–1960 a unit named Bratislava Region existed, but it was replaced in 1960 by the Western Slovak Region, after abolition of the regions in 1990, the current system was introduced in 1996. Since the administrative regions became autonomous in 2002, it has been governed by the Bratislava Self-Governing Region, although it is the smallest region of Slovakia by area, it does not have the lowest population. The largest city is Bratislava and the second largest is Pezinok, the region has a high level of urbanization. According to the 2001 census, there were 599,015 inhabitants in the region, with most of them being Slovaks, with minorities of Hungarians, the economy of the Bratislava Region accounts for about a quarter of the Slovak GDP. Bratislava has one of the highest GDP per capita at PPP of among whole E. U and it is marked by a strong tertiary sector, while the primary sector has a share of only around 1% and the secondary sector around 20%. Important branches include chemical, automobile, machine, electrotechnical and food industries, the Bratislava Region consists of 8 districts, Malacky, Pezinok, Senec and 5 districts of Bratislava. There are 73 municipalities in the region, of which 7 are towns, the Encyclopaedia of Slovakia and the Slovaks. Bratislava, Slovakia, Encyclopaedic Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, bratislavský samosprávny kraj Official website Bratislava Region Tourism
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Bratislava 1
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Bratislava I is a district in the city of Bratislava. It is identical with its borough, Bratislavas Old Town. With an area of 10 square kilometers, it is the smallest district of Slovakia and it is completely surrounded by other Bratislava districts, Bratislava II, Bratislava III, Bratislava IV and Bratislava V. For administrative purposes, according to VZN No, 6/2001, the Old Town of Bratislava has total area of 124 meters squared. The boundary then continues around the edge of the Bratislava hlavná stanica and at the crossing of Jaskov Rad Street. Všeobecne záväzné nariadenie hlavného mesta Slovenskej republiky Bratislavy č, júna 2001 ktorým sa podrobne vymedzujú územia mestských častí hlavného mesta Slovenskej republiky Bratislavy
4.
Danube
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The Danube is Europes second-longest river, after the Volga River, and also the longest river in the European Union region. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe, the Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries, the Latin name Dānuvius is one of a number of Old European river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European *dānu. Other river names from the root include the Dunajec, Dzvina/Daugava, Don, Donets, Dnieper, Dniestr. In Rigvedic Sanskrit, dānu means fluid, drop, in Avestan, in the Rigveda, Dānu once appears as the mother of Vrtra. Known to the ancient Greeks as the Istros a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian name meaning strong, in Latin, the Danube was variously known as Danubius, Danuvius or as Ister. The Dacian/Thracian name was Donaris for the upper Danube and Istros for the lower Danube, the Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, the bringer of luck. The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, the German Donau is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the suffix -ouwe wetland. Classified as a waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach. The Danube then flows southeast for about 2,800 km, passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and its drainage basin extends into nine more. The highest point of the basin is the summit of Piz Bernina at the Italy–Switzerland border. The land drained by the Danube extends into other countries. Many Danubian tributaries are important rivers in their own right, navigable by barges, from its source to its outlet into the Black Sea, its main tributaries are, The Danube flows through many cities, including four national capitals, more than any other river in the world. Danube remains a mountain river until Passau, with average bottom gradient 0. 0012%. Middle Section, From Devín Gate to Iron Gate, at the border of Serbia and Romania, the riverbed widens and the average bottom gradient becomes only 0. 00006%. Lower Section, From Iron Gate to Sulina, with average gradient as little as 0. 00003%, about 60 of its tributaries are also navigable. In 1994 the Danube was declared one of ten Pan-European transport corridors, routes in Central, the amount of goods transported on the Danube increased to about 100 million tons in 1987. In 1999, transport on the river was difficult by the NATO bombing of three bridges in Serbia during the Kosovo War
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Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
Vehicle registration plates of Slovakia
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There are three design varieties that are in valid use. Between 1 April 1997 and 30 April 2004, the contained the Coat of Arms of Slovakia in the top left corner. The two district identifiers were separated from the serials by a dash, on 1 May 2004, Slovakia joined the European Union. In order to harmonise the visual look of the plates with the rest of the EU, the Slovak Coat of Arms was replaced by the so-called euroband, the country code SK was inserted into the euroband. The number 0 and letter O have been differentiated as well, the Slovak Coat of Arms has returned to the plates replacing the dash while keeping the EU part intact. Regular plates are the most commonly used of all the types and they contain seven characters starting with the district code followed by a series of 3 numbers and 2 letters. The number series used are between 001 and 999, the letter series are between AA-XZ and ZA-ZZ. 999AZ is followed by 001BA through 999BB etc, only Bratislava has reached 999ZZ as of February 2011. Where limited space warrants it, two-line plates can be used on a vehicle, a block of combinations is set aside from the regular plate range as required. Trailer plates follow the format of the regular plates XX-NNNLL except in case the first serial letter is always Y. The registrations would thus start 001YA, continuing through 999YA and 001YB to 999YZ, any build of trailer whether a mobile home or cargo trailer can use these plates. As of February 2011, Bratislava is nearing the end of its YZ series, two-line plates also exist with a block of combinations set aside for them in each district. Motorcycle plates follow the same coding and use the series as the regular plates. For example, DS-125AC can be both a regular plate and a motorcycle plate, the only difference is their size. Motorcycles use two different sizes both of which are smaller than the regular size, personalized plates are optional in Slovakia for an extra fee. The format must include the two letter code and 5 other characters in either XX-LLLLL, XX-LLLLN or LLLNN format. Unlike in any type of plates, the use of Q and W is possible. Plates are not allowed to any political, religious or offensive message
7.
Bratislava
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Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, and with a population of about 450,000, the countrys largest city. The greater metropolitan area is home to more than 650,000 people, Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia, occupying both banks of the River Danube and the left bank of the River Morava. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the national capital that borders two sovereign states. The history of the city has strongly influenced by people of different nations and religions, namely by Austrians, Croats, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Jews, Serbs. The city served as the site and legislative center of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1536 to 1783. Bratislava is the political, cultural and economic centre of Slovakia and it is the seat of the Slovak president, the parliament and the Slovak Executive. It is home to several universities, museums, theatres, galleries, many of Slovakias large businesses and financial institutions also have headquarters there. The capital of Slovakia is the eighth best city for freelancers to live in, mostly because of fast internet, in 2017, Bratislava was ranked as the third richest region of the European Union by GDP per capita. GDP at purchasing power parity is about three times higher than in other Slovak regions, the city received its contemporary name in 1919. Beforehand it was known in English by its German name, Pressburg, as it was long dominated by Austrians. This is the term which the German, the pre-1919 Slovak, the citys Hungarian name, Pozsony, was given after the castles first castellan, Poson. The origin of the name is unclear, it come from the Czech Pos or the German Poscho. Hungarian speakers still use the Hungarian name, Pozsony, the medieval settlement Brezalauspurc is sometimes attributed to Bratislava, however the actual location of Brezalauspurc is under scholarly debate. The citys modern name is credited to Pavel Jozef Šafáriks misinterpretation of Braslav as Bratislav when analyzing medieval sources, thus coming up with the term Břetislaw, during the revolution of 1918–1919, the name Wilsonov or Wilsonstadt was proposed by American Slovaks, as he supported national self-determination. The name Bratislava, which was used only by some Slovak patriots. The name Pressburg was also used in English-language publications until 1919, in older documents, confusion can be caused by the Latin forms Bratislavia, Wratislavia etc. which refer to Wrocław, Poland – not to Bratislava. The first known permanent settlement of the area began with the Linear Pottery Culture, about 200 BC, the Celtic Boii tribe founded the first significant settlement, a fortified town known as an oppidum. They also established a mint, producing silver coins known as biatecs, the area fell under Roman influence from the 1st to the 4th century AD and was made part of the Danubian Limes, a border defence system
8.
Bratislava Castle
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Bratislava Castle is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on a rocky hill of the Little Carpathians directly above the Danube river in the middle of Bratislava. Because of its size and location, it has been a dominant feature of the city for centuries, the location provides excellent views of Bratislava, Austria and, in clear weather, parts of Hungary. Many legends are connected with the history of the castle, the castle site includes the following, The castle building includes four towers and a courtyard with a 80 m deep water well. The largest and tallest tower is the Crown Tower on the southwest corner, the 47 m tower dates from the 13th century and for approximately 200 years beginning in the mid-1500s housed the crown jewels of Hungary. The exterior walls and inside corridors contain fragments of old Gothic, the walled-up entrance gate from the 16th century is still visible to the east of the main entrance. Behind the entrance, is a corridor leading to a large Baroque staircase which, in turn. The third floor houses the exhibition on the History of Slovakia, the first floor in the south wing of the building houses the rooms of Slovak parliament — the National Council of the Slovak Republic - including furnishings from the 16th century. The northern wing of the building- the former Baroque chapel, houses the Music Hall in which concerts are held, the courtyard includes the entrance to the Knights Hall. The Yard of Honor is the space directly before the entrance dates from the late 18th century. Inside the Sigismund Gate and below the Court of Honor, is the Leopold Yard with bastions, to the east of the castle building the constellation of the Great Moravian basilica, the Church of St Savior and other Early medieval objects is indicated on the ground. The true archaeological findings are directly below this indicated constellation, adjacent to the Nicholas Gate, a Gothic gateway from the 15th century in the northeast quadrant, is the Lugiland Bastion. This is a long three-floor building from the 17th century which houses the National Council of the Slovak Republic. An English park is located to the south of the stable, the northern border of the site is formed by a long Baroque building from the 18th century, which today houses the Slovak National Museum and the castle administration. The people of the Boleráz culture were the first known culture to have constructed settlements on the castle hill and their castle was a fortified settlement and a kind of acropolis for settlements in todays Old Town of Bratislava. Further major findings from the hill are from the Hallstatt Period. At that time the people of the Kalenderberg Culture constructed a building plunged into the rock of the castle hill, again, the castle served as an acropolis for settlements found in the western part of the Old Town. During the La Tène Period, the hill became a very important center of the Celts
9.
Diplomatic mission
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In practice, a diplomatic mission usually denotes the resident mission, namely the office of a countrys diplomatic representatives in the capital city of another country. As well as being a mission to the country in which it is situated. There are thus resident and non-resident embassies, a permanent diplomatic mission is typically known as an Embassy, and the head of the mission is known as an Ambassador, or High Commissioner. Therefore, the Embassy operates in the Chancery, European Union missions abroad are known as EU delegations. Some countries have more particular naming for their missions and staff, under the rule of Muammar Gaddafi, Libyas missions used the name peoples bureau and the head of the mission was a secretary. Missions between Commonwealth countries are known as commissions and their heads are High Commissioners. This is because Ambassadors are exchanged between foreign countries, but since the beginning of the Commonwealth, member countries have maintained that they are not foreign to one another. An ambassador represents one head of state to another and a letters of credence are addressed by one head of state to another. Until India became a republic on 26 January 1950, all members of the Commonwealth had the head of state. In the past a diplomatic mission headed by an official was known as a legation. Since the ranks of envoy and minister resident are effectively obsolete, a consulate is similar to, but not the same as a diplomatic office, but with focus on dealing with individual persons and businesses, as defined by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. A consulate or consulate general is generally a representative of the embassy in locales outside of the capital city. For instance, the United Kingdom has its Embassy of the United Kingdom in Washington, D. C. but also maintains seven consulates-general, the person in charge of a consulate or consulate-general is known as a consul or consul-general, respectively. Similar services may also be provided at the embassy in what is called a consular section. In cases of dispute, it is common for a country to recall its head of mission as a sign of its displeasure, a chargé daffaires ad interim also heads the mission during the interim between the end of one chief of missions term and the beginning of another. Contrary to popular belief, most diplomatic missions do not enjoy full extraterritorial status, rather, the premises of diplomatic missions usually remain under the jurisdiction of the host state while being afforded special privileges by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. Diplomats themselves still retain full diplomatic immunity, and the host country may not enter the premises of the mission without permission of the represented country, international rules designate an attack on an embassy as an attack on the country it represents. The term extraterritoriality is often applied to missions, but normally only in this broader sense
10.
National Council (Slovakia)
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The National Council, abbreviated to NR SR, is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameral, and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation with seats distributed via Hagenbach-Bischoff quota every four years, Slovakias parliament has been called the National Council since 1 October 1992. From 1969 to 1992, its predecessor, the parliament of the Slovak part of Czechoslovakia, was called the Slovak National Council, the National Council approves domestic legislation, constitutional laws, and the annual budget. Its consent is required to ratify treaties, and is responsible for approving military operations. It also elects individuals to positions in the executive and judiciary as specified by law. The parliament building is situated on the hill, next to Bratislava Castle in Alexander Dubček Square. The 150-seat unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic is Slovakias sole constitutional and it considers and approves the Constitution, constitutional statutes and other legal acts. It also approves the state budget and it elects some officials specified by law as well as the candidates for the position of a Justice of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic and the Prosecutor General. Prior to their ratification, the parliament should approve all important international treaties, moreover, it gives consent for dispatching of military forces outside of Slovakias territory and for the presence of foreign military forces on the territory of the Slovak Republic. The parliament may vote if a majority of all its members are present. To pass a decision the approval of a majority of all MPs present is required. Almost all legal acts can be adopted by this relative majority, an absolute majority is required to pass a vote of no-confidence in the Cabinet or its members, or to elect and recall the Speaker or the Deputy Speakers. A qualified majority of 3/5 of all deputies is required for the adoption of a constitution or a constitutional statute, for the speakers see, List of speakers of Slovak parliaments The current speaker of the Slovak National Council is Andrej Danko. The length of the bars underneath represents each partys electoral performance, the difference in the total width of the bars is due to the election threshold of 5%, this threshold prevents a varying number of small parties from entering the National Council. Members of the parliament are elected directly for a 4-year term, although the suffrage is universal, only a citizen who has the right to vote, has attained 21 years of age and has permanent residency in the Slovak Republic is eligible to be elected. Similarly to the Netherlands and Israel, the country forms one multi-member constituency. Voters may indicate their preferences within the semi-open list, parliamentary elections were last held in 2016. The building is large to accommodate all officials and representatives
11.
Episcopal Summer Palace, Bratislava
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The Episcopal Summer Palace is the former residence of the archbishop of Bratislava. The palace was originally in the 17th century a Renaissance summer seat for the archbishops of Esztergom, the baroque sculptor Georg Rafael Donner had a studio in the palace garden for almost 10 years. The palace now houses the government of Slovakia, when the Turks occupied Asia minor and started invading Europe, Hungarian nobility started fleeing north, into present-day Slovakia. Bratislava became the city of Hungary. After the city of Esztergom was captured, the seat of the Esztergom archbishop had to be moved, at first, he lived in the building of his predecessors at the place of todays Primates Palace in the city center. The old gothic residence, however, despite its many reconstructions failed to provide the comfort the archbishop was accustomed to, in spite of Hungary being decimated by the Turks, the nobility started to emulate the foreign custom of building summer palaces in the countryside. The land for the Summer Archbishops Palace, just behind the ring of city defences, was at that time considered to be countryside. It was acquired at the beginning of the 17th century by archbishop Ferenc Forgách, the archbishops summer residence was built probably in 1614. The gardens masterpiece was a garden pavillon with walls encased in mosaic, neither the garden or the pavillon survived this period of time. Lippay also had a new residence built sometime during his tenure as archbishop, archbishop Imre Esterházy had the garden reconfigured in a baroque style. It was under archbishop Ferenc Barkóczy that the current version of the palace was built, between 1761 and 1765, Barkóczy had Austrian architect F. A. Hillebrandt convert the old Lippay building into a large baroque palace. Also, Rococo style decorations, a Rococo fence and a yard of honour were added, in the 19th century, the seat of Esztergom archbishops was moved back to Esztergom and the Hungarian capital was moved to Buda. After the Napoleonic wars a strong garrison of king-emperors army remained in the city, Summer Archbishops Palace was converted into a military hospital and its garden was used as a military exercising ground. Statues from the garden were sold and a staircase leading from the garden directly to a hall on the first floor was demolished. The hall was split into two full of beds for wounded soldiers. The palace remained a hospital until the 1930s. After the breakup of Czechoslovakia the newly created Slovak State was in need of administrative and office buildings in the city to house the government. Summer Archbishops Palace was chosen to house the Ministry of foreign affairs and a government district was supposed to be constructed in the vicinity
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Government of Slovakia
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The Government of the Slovak Republic is the head of the executive branch of state in Slovakia. The Cabinet appointed by the president on recommendation of the prime minister must gain a vote of confidence in the National Council. As the chief formulator of the public policy under the Slovak Constitution. Acting in the best interests of the nation, it is responsible for meeting the Government programme objectives within the scope of the national budget. One of the Governments duties is the formulation and management of the foreign policy. It submits draft Bills to the National Council, which are preceded by nationwide discussions and consultations with the relevant organizations. As established by law, the Government can discuss in its proceedings a confidence motion, cases of pardoning criminal offenders. The Cabinet is made up of the Prime Minister, presiding over it, his or her Deputies, the Cabinet is appointed by the President of the Slovak Republic on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. For its policy and administration the members of the Cabinet are responsible to the National Council, following the Slovak parliamentary election,2016, the current prime minister, Robert Fico, has been serving with his government, the Third Fico Cabinet, since 23 March 2016. Notes Smer–SD nominee Slovak National Party nominee Official site of the government
13.
Grassalkovich Palace
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The Grassalkovich Palace is a palace in Bratislava and the residence of the president of Slovakia. It is situated on Hodžovo námestie, near the Summer Archbishops Palace, the building is a Rococo-late Baroque summer palace with a French garden. The building was finished in 1760, by architect Anton Mayerhofer for Hungarian aristocrat Antal Grassalkovich and it features many rooms and an impressive staircase. The chapel is decorated with frescoes by Joseph von Pichler, the building became a center of Baroque musical life in Pozsony/Pressburg. Joseph Haydn premiered some of his works here, count Grassalkovich also had his orchestra and his colleague, Prince Esterházy, used to lend him his favorite conductor, Haydn. Grassalkovich was Maria Theresas vassal, so the palace was used for various balls, for example, it was Haydn who conducted the orchestra when Maria Theresas daughter married Albert of Sachsen-Teschen, then governor of the Kingdom of Hungary. Ľudovít Štúr is said to have declared his love to Adela Ostrolúcka for the first time during a ball organized by archduke Stephen Francis Victor, son of the Palatine, Joseph. The last owners of the palace before the end of Austria-Hungary were archduke Frederick of Teschen with his wife Isabella of Croy-Dülmen, from 1919 the palace was occupied by the Territorial Military Command. During the 1939–1945 period, the palace was adapted by Emil Belluš, during the Communist era, it was first the seat of the Council of Commissioners, which was a quasi-government of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia. In 1950, the building was turned into the Klement Gottwald House of Pioneers and Youth, the schoolchildren caused extensive damage to the palace, and the necessary restoration only became possible following the transition from Communism in late 1989 with the Velvet Revolution. After its reconstruction in the early 1990s, on 30 September 1996 the palace became the residence of Slovakias president and its once-large gardens are now a public park, complete with a statue of Bratislava-born composer Jan Nepomuk Hummel
14.
President of Slovakia
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The President of the Slovak Republic is the head of state of Slovakia and the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. The president is elected by the people for five years. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the president does exercise certain limited powers with absolute discretion, the presidents official residence is the Grassalkovich Palace in Bratislava. The office was established by the constitution of Slovakia on 1 January 1993 when Slovakia permanently split from Czechoslovakia, the office was vacant until 2 March 1993 when the first president Michal Kováč was elected by the National Council of Slovak Republic. However, in 1998, the National Council was unable to elect a successor to Kováč, the result was that for half a year after Kováčs term ended in March 1998, the position was vacant. The duties and powers of the office were devolved upon the prime minister and speaker of the National Council. In order to come to a solution, the constitution was changed to transfer election of the president to the people, presidential elections have been held in 1999,2004,2009 and 2014. The current president is Andrej Kiska, who took office on 15 June 2014, the President of Slovakia has a limited role in policy-making, as the office is largely ceremonial. According to the constitution, the president is the representative of the state both in Slovakia and abroad. Among his constitutional powers are nominating and appointing the Prime Minister, the president can also veto any bill from the National Council. His veto can be if the National Council passes the same bill again with majority of all members of the Council. The president also acts as the commander-in-chief of the Slovak armed forces, the president can grant a parole on the recommendation of the minister of justice. Parties HZDS SOP HZD Independent There are two living former Slovak Presidents, List of Presidents of Czechoslovakia List of Prime Ministers of Slovakia List of leaders of Slovak parliaments
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Karlova Ves
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Karlova Ves is a city borough of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is located in the part of the city close to the river Danube on the slopes of the Little Carpathians mountains. A small, wine-making village for most of its history it was assimilated into Bratislava in the 1940s and in 1957, the construction of a large socialist panelák suburb started. Today, Karlova Ves has approximately 33,000 inhabitants and university dormitories in Mlynská dolina house an additional 15,000 students at the area of 7874 meters squared. The Karlova Ves proper includes also the largest island in Bratislava, the city part also features the Bratislava Water Museum, the Slávičie údolie cemetery, numerous schools and three Roman-Catholic churches. The St. Francis Square serves as the center of the city borough, Karlova Ves borders Austria and Petržalka to the south, Devín to the west, Dúbravka to the north and Old Town to the east. The southern boundary is the river Danube, the altitude difference is from 134 meters AMSL at the Karloveská bay to 264 m AMSL at the mountain Nad Sitinou, mean altitude in the borough is 165 meters AMSL. In the past, the boundaries of Karlova Ves used to change often, the southern boundary is the Petržalka bank of the Danube, border with Austria and the Karloveské rameno creating island Sihoť. Eastern boundary is the Cesta na Červený most Street, Lamačská cesta Street, Mlynská dolina street until the river Danube, running underneath the Lafranconi bridge. The western boundary runs west of Dlhé diely, through the part of Kuklovská Street, Sološnícka Street, Šaštínska Street, Hrubý vrch, Krčace. Karlova Ves is divided into five parts, Dlhé diely, Mlynská dolina, Kútiky, Rovnice. Cadastrially it is divided into 9 sectors, Karlova Ves, Dlhé diely, Líščie údolie, Krčace, Patrónka, Mlynská dolina, Sitina - ZOO, Karloveská zátoka and Sihoť. In the past, it was a quiet village in the proximity of Bratislava. It includes large, recent high-rise apartment blocks in the Dlhé diely area, in the Mlynská dolina quarter is the headquarters of Slovak Television, and there is Slávičie údolie cemetery nearby. Mlynská dolina, part of Karlova Ves, features numerous universities, františka z Assisi s organizačnými zložkami, ZŠ sv. Františka z Assisi a gymnázium sv, františka z Assisi, Súkromné gymnázium ESPRIT Majerníkova 62, Elementary schools, ZŠ Karloveská61, Spojená škola s organizačnými zloţkami, ZŠ a gymnázium Tilgnerova 14, Spojená škola sv. Františka z Assisi s organizačnými zložkami, ZŠ sv, františka z Assisi a gymnázium sv. There are three multi-functional playgrounds available for free to the public, inside the area of School Alexandra Dubčeka, School Karloveská32, libor Ebringer, Professor of microbiology and Doctor of Sciences Boroughs and localities of Bratislava Geography of Bratislava Karlova Ves website
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Little Carpathians
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The Little Carpathians are a low, about 100 km long, mountain range, part of the Carpathian Mountains. The Little Carpathians are bordered by Záhorie Lowland in the west, in 1976, the Little Carpathians were declared a protected area under the name Little Carpathians Protected Landscape Area, covering 646.1 km2. The area is rich in flora and fauna diversity and contains numerous castles, most notably the Bratislava Castle and caves, the three highest mountains are Záruby at 768 m, Vysoká at 754 m and Vápenná at 752 m. Little Carpathians are further divided into four parts, Devín Carpathians, Pezinok Carpathians, Brezová Carpathians, the mountains are densely forested, the southeastern part contains extensive vineyards. Several castles or castle ruins are situated in the Little Carpathians, for example Devín Castle, Čachtice Castle, Červený Kameň Castle, geologically, the mountain range is part of the Tatra-Fatra Belt of core mountains. There are several faults which produced earthquakes in past. Of them most notable is Dobra Voda fault and this particular fault is also closely monitored because of its proximity to NPP Jaslovske Bohunice. The most important karst forms include caves Deravá, Tmavá skala, Driny, Čachtická cave, Driny, a limestone cave, is the only cave open to public. Major streams include Vydrica and Suchý jarok, the Little Carpathians are seismically one of the most active regions in Slovakia and epicentres of earthquakes with approximate magnitude of 2.5 on Richter magnitude scale scale are located here. While being a low range, the Little Carpathians were always considered a mountain barrier due to being surrounded by various lowlands. In the past, various types of ore were mined in the Little Carpathians used for the production of gold, silver, antimony, manganese, during Second World War, Little Carpathians were the birthplace of partisan group Janko Kráľ. Insurgency in the mountains lasted until the occupation by the Soviet Red Army in 1945, the mountain range contains a dense network of trails and the recreational infrastructure is relatively well developed, especially in the south. The Little Carpathians are popular as a place for the inhabitants of Bratislava. Since the Middle Ages, the area is known for its wines, well known centers of local wine-making include Svätý Jur, Modra and Pezinok. Main tourist centers include the Slovak capital Bratislava, Pezinská Baba, geomorphological division of Slovakia Tourism in Slovakia Little Carpathians at Spectacular Slovakia Little Carpathians Wine Route
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Chatam Sofer Memorial
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Later, when the tunnel was converted for public transport trams a tram stop was constructed above the site. In 2002 a modern memorial was erected above the site and it was opened to the public. The fenced area of the Chatam Sofer Memorial is roughly equivalent to the area of the former Old Jewish Cemetery of Bratislava and it is approximately 70 meters distant from the river Danube. There is a transport bus stop and a tram stop called Chatam Sofer next to the memorial. In the 17th century, Jews were allowed to settle in the area below Bratislava Castle on the estates of the Counts of the Pálffy family, the Jewish community established a graveyard near the river Danube which served until 1847. Since then, the Jewish community has used the Orthodox and Neolog cemetery located on Žižkova Street nearby, in the 1940s, new structures were erected nearby to serve the International Danube Fair, later to become Park kultúry a oddychu. At the same time, the riverbank was extended and the area filled with roads and tram lines, most of the graves were exhumed and reburied at the Orthodox cemetery in a communal grave behind the beit tahara. Negotiations with the regime enabled the community to preserve this section of the cemetery including the Chasam Sofers grave, enclosed in concrete, until the 2000s, the area was separated from the Danube by a public park. Following the declaration of independence by Slovakia in 1992, new negotiations were undertaken to restore access to the preserved graves. In the mid-1990s, the International Committee for Preservation of Gravesites of Geonai Pressburg was formed to support and oversee relocation of tram tracks, the architect of the new Chatam Sofer Memorial was Slovak Martin Kvasnica and the construction was performed by the company Raft. Construction of the mausoleum was completed after overcoming numerous technical, financial and religious issues, since 2002, the site is accessible to the public with restrictions. All visits must be arranged through the local Jewish Community at least 48 hours in advance, there is an entrance fee of $6 per visitor, with an additional $20 for access outside of normal operating hours. There is also a protocol and dress code to be adhered to including long trousers, hats for men. Although in theory the site is also to the citizens of Bratislava, in reality the Memorial is visited almost exclusively by foreign Jewish visitors. Moses Sofer History of the Jews in Slovakia History of Bratislava Tourism in Slovakia Mauzóleum Chatama Sofera, published by, SNM - Múzeum Židovskej Kultúry, Bratislava,1996. sk
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D2 motorway (Slovakia)
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D2 is a motorway in Slovakia. It connects the Czech border at Kúty with the Hungarian border at Čunovo, passing through Malacky, Bratislava and it is part of the European routes E65 and E75 and of the Pan-European Corridor IV. The construction of the 80-kilometre-long highway started in 1969 and it was finished in 2007 and it is the only complete highway in Slovakia. The first plans on D2 motorway/freeway appeared in the 1960s, from the Czechoslovak government act in 1963 to build 117 km long motorway from Brno to Bratislava, the construction started on April 1969, with the first section from Bratislava to Malacky, which was open on November 1973. A new planned segment from Bratislava to the Hungarian border was added in 1987, today, the motorway is complete, with the last 3 km in Bratislava opened on 24 June 2007. This section contained the only tunnel in its length, the Sitina Tunnel. D2 motorway Exit list of Motorway D2
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Old Town Hall (Bratislava)
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Old Town Hall is a complex of buildings from the 14th century in the Old Town of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is the oldest city hall in the country and it is one of the oldest stone buildings still standing in Bratislava, the town hall was created in the 15th century by connecting three townhouses, and then went through several reconstructions in the course of the centuries. It houses the oldest museum in Bratislava, the Bratislava City Museum, founded in 1868, featuring an exhibit of the city history, the outlook from the top of the Old Town Hall tower offers a round view of Bratislava Old Town and its environs. The Old Town Hall is located in the heart of the city center and it is next to the Jesuit Church and near the Greek and Japanese embassies. It is easily recognizable by its tiled roof. Finished in the Gothic style in the 15th century, it resulted from the several buildings, Jacobus house with a tower, Pawers house, Ungers house. The principal building adjacent to the tower and facing the Main Square was built by the town Mayor Jacobus II in the 14th century, while the tower was erected in the late 13th century. Towers made of stone were part of some medieval townhouses in order to provide safety in case of war or protection of wealth in case of fire, although exact date cannot be specified, details of the gothic windows suggest it was built approximately in 1370. The towers ground floor was one lower than todays street level. The Apponyi Palace was built by Count Juraj Apponyi, a Hungarian nobleman and Kings advisor, the architect is unknown but older literature attributes the project to F. A. Hildebrandt. Only two wings survive from this residential representative town residence - western and the short southern, the ground floor was both residential and used for storage. The staircase included baroque stone sculptures of saints until the 1930s, first floor is the representative piano nobile with preserved rococo-classical interior decorations. Second floor was used for the accommodation of the Apponyi family, ceilings are lower here, the attic was used for accommodation from the 18th century until the first half of the 19th century, today, the wooden booths for sleeping were removed. Until the second half of the 19th century the palace used to have two wings around a trapezoid-shaped courtyard, used by the servants. The building was used as a hall from the 15th century through the late 19th century. At times during that period, however, it served other purposes, including housing a prison and mint. It was also used as the citys arsenal depository and municipal archive, today it hosts the Bratislava City Museum, displaying exhibitions of Pressburgs history. Exhibited items include torture instruments, the old dungeons, antique weapons and armour, paintings
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St Martin's Cathedral, Bratislava
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The St. Martins Cathedral is a church in Bratislava, Slovakia, and the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bratislava. It is situated at the border of the historical city center below Bratislava Castle. It is the largest and one of the oldest churches in Bratislava, together with the castle on the hill adjacent, and somewhat similar in its striking but fairly stark Gothic lines and colouring, St Martins 85 m spire dominates Old Town’s skyline. The tower virtually formed a part of the fortifications, built as it was into the city’s defensive walls. As with the castle, the surroundings of St Martins are as memorable as the structure itself, in the cathedral’s case, this includes the picturesque remains of outbuildings in a spacious staired courtyard, and a working seminary with robed adepts on a cobblestone side-street. The cathedral contains the remains of Saint John the Merciful who died in the early 7th Century, the nave of the structure consists of three aisles divided by two rows of eight columns. It has a floor area of 69.37 m ×22.85 m with a maximum height of 16.02 m. The tower is 85 m high and at one time was part of the city fortifications. The cathedral is constructed in the traditional crucifix shape, together with the castle on the hill adjacent, and somewhat similar in its striking but fairly stark Gothic lines and colouring, St Martins 85 m spire dominates Old Town’s skyline. As with the castle, the surroundings of St Martins are as memorable as the structure itself, the cathedral sits amid picturesque remains of outbuildings in a spacious staired courtyard, and a working seminary with robed adepts on a cobblestoned side-street. The tower is capped by a replica of the Hungarian Crown resting on a gilded pillow, the altar is dominated by an equestrian statue group depicting St. Martin in a typical Hungarian hussar dress. The saint is dividing his cloak to give part to a beggar as protection from the cold, long before the construction of the cathedral, the site had been the crossroads and contained the former centre of the town, a market and probably also a chapel. Worship services were held at Bratislava Castle, where the chapter, the church was relocated in 1221, and was originally built in Romanesque style and sanctified to the Holy Savior. As the town grew into a city and received privileges in 1291. Construction of a new Gothic cathedral began in 1311 on the site of the earlier church, construction continued until 1452 due to the difficulty of construction and lack of funding. For a period in the fifteenth century, construction halted due to the Hussite Wars. In 1452, the church was completed and consecrated, however. During this period, a new presbytery and the Gothic chapels of Czech Queen Sofia
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Michael's Gate
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In Bratislava, Slovakia, Michaels Gate is the only city gate that has been preserved of the medieval fortifications and ranks among the oldest town buildings. Built about the year 1300, its present shape is the result of baroque reconstructions in 1758, when the statue of St. Michael, the tower houses the Exhibition of Weapons of Bratislava City Museum. In the medieval times the town was surrounded by fortified walls, on the east side of the town, it was the Laurinc Gate, named after Saint Lawrence, in the south it was the Fishermens Gate. This was the smallest gate of the four, used mainly by the entering the city with fish caught in the river Danube. On the west side it was the Vydrica Gate, also called the Dark Gate or Black Gate, since it was like a tunnel—dark and long. In the north, there was St. Michaels Gate named after St. Michael, later on it was put down and materials gained from it were used in the building of additional town walls. The history of St. Michaels gate dates back to the end of the 13th century, the fortification in front of the St. Michaels gate was closed off by a drawbridge over a moat. Later it was rebuilt in stone, the entrance was closed by a drawn portcullis along with a wooden door. The gates tower was razed in 1529–34, then in 1753–58 rebuilt in its present form and it was at this last reconstruction that a statue of St. Michael was placed atop the tower. St. Michaels Tower stands 56 yards, the gate got its name from Saint Michaels church and after it named uptown, from where people entered the city. In streets ground plan from the gate upward is well-preserved bended type of street in the gate space. From the outside of the gate is a bridge, which arches over the ditch along the town wall. From the inside of the gate is a stone gothic sign, which states that the tower was repaired by the city council, today a marked historical crown path leads through the gate. Michaels Gate was the centerpiece of a fortification system which included two rings of city walls, two bastions, a barbican and a falling bridge over the water moat. While the city walls have disappeared in this part of the city, the falling bridge was later replaced by a wooden one and the brick structure that is todays Michaels Bridge was built in 1727 and it is the oldest bridge in the city. This area also contains the last remaining stretch of the Bratislava Moat, half of which has made accessible to the public since 2006. Today, the barbican is partially built into the house on Michalská Street No.25 and it contained windows facing the moat area, which were visible as late as 1960s, but are completely covered now. Today, there is a museum of medieval fortification of Bratislava, visitors will get familiar with the towns fortification beginnings, reconstructions and their final destruction in the 18th century as the fortified walls were preventing the citys growth
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Primate's Palace
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The Primates Palace is a neoclassical palace in the Old Town of Bratislava the capital of Slovakia. It was built from 1778 to 1781 for Archbishop József Batthyány, in 1805, the Palaces Hall of Mirrors saw the signing of the fourth Peace of Pressburg, ending the War of the Third Coalition. Today, it serves as the seat of Mayor of Bratislava, the opening sessions of the Hungarian Diet, which convened in the University Library, took place here as well. István Széchenyi offered his yearly income to establish here the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the city purchased the palace in 1903. During reconstruction in 1903, a series of six previously unknown tapestries were found behind a wall, depicting the legend of Hero and Leander, the tapestries were woven in the 1630s at the royal weaving workshop at Mortlake, near London. According to old Hungarian newspapers, literary lectures and author evenings were arranged in its Hall of Mirrors between the two world wars, zseni Várnai, Aladár Schöpflin, Zsigmond Móricz, Thomas Mann also took part in these events. The scholar Paracelsus used to live briefly and there is a memorial plate commemorating his visit. The Palace served as a seat of the President of Slovakia before the Grassalkovich Palace became the permanent presidential residence in 1996. The Palace is open to the public as a tourist attraction, the famous Hall of Mirrors serves as the location for Bratislava City Council meetings
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Comenius University
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Comenius University in Bratislava is the largest university in Slovakia, with most of its faculties located in Bratislava. It was founded in 1919, shortly after the creation of Czechoslovakia and it is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century Czech teacher and philosopher. In 2006, Comenius University had more than 30,000 students and 2,000 faculty members, as are most universities in Slovakia, it is funded mostly by the government. Although there have been plans to establish tuition fees for university students in Slovakia for years, the Comenius University was established in 1919 with assistance from the more established University of Prague. This has caused the majority of the professors to take refuge in Budapest. It has been moved to Pécs and renamed to University of Pécs. This persecution of former pillars of education in Bratislava necessitated the recruitment of Czech academicians, therefore, many professors of the newly established university, including its first rector, Prof. MUDr. Kristian Hynek, were Czechs, since Slovakia at that time did not have enough educated Slovak speakers who could serve as faculty members, in spite of personnel, financial, and space difficulties, the university developed research and teaching programs. The Faculty of Medicine opened in 1919, and was followed by the Faculties of Law. The Faculty of Philosophy, besides offering programs in the humanities and social science, in 1937, a new university building for the Faculties of Law and Philosophy was opened in the centre of Bratislava. The building includes the Aula used for ceremonies and other formal functions. During World War II, Slovakia became nominally a republic, but was actually under the sway of Nazi Germany, the government reduced academic freedoms at the university, and the Czech professors were forced out. The university was renamed Slovak University in 1939, though the name was reinstated in 1954. The Faculty of Science opened in 1940 and the Roman Catholic Faculty of Theology was established in 1941, the Roman Catholic Faculty of Theology was taken under direct control of the Ministry of Education. After the Velvet revolution in 1989, the university created a democratic self-government, the Roman Catholic Faculty of Theology and the Evangelical Theological Faculty joined the university. The transformation of Slovakia into a market economy created a need for professionals in management, as a result, the university established the Faculty of Management 1991 and the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences in 2002. In 2000, the European credit transfer system was implemented to improve student mobility and facilitate more ties with other European universities
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Slovak National Theater
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The Slovak National Theater is the second oldest Slovak professional theater. It was founded in 1920 after the creation of Czechoslovakia as a cooperative, between 1920 and 1945, there was also a musical ensemble. The Slovak National Theater has represented Slovak culture on its numerous tours abroad and it was created and, in the 1920s, also run by Czech artists. The first performance was the Czech opera Hubička by Bedřich Smetana on March 1,1920, the ensembles were Slovakized only gradually. In 1932, the drama ensemble split into the SNT Slovak Drama Company led by Janko Borodáč, the Czech Drama Company ceased to operate when it was forced to leave Slovakia in 1938. Since then, the ensemble has performed in Slovak only. In recent years, operas have been presented in their original languages, initially, all 3 ensembles were active at the old Slovak National Theater building. From 1955 to early 2007, the company performed at the P. O. Hviezdoslav Theater. Since 2007, the ensembles perform only at the old Slovak National Theater building, the drama company was shaped by the directors Janko Borodáč, F. Hoffman, J. Jamnický, J. Budský, T. Rakovský, K. I. Zachary, P. Haspra, M. Pietor and the current one – Dušan Jamrich, the opera ensemble was led by conductors such as Oskar Nedbal, K. Nedbal, J. Vincourek and T. Frešo, and directors including V. Šulc and M. Wasserbauer. A great boom occurred after World War II, the SNT witnessed the rise of modern Slovak opera by Eugen Suchoň, Ján Cikker, Alexander Moyzes, Tibor Andrašovan, T. Frešo, and many others. Many singers from the SNT are famous abroad, e. g. Edita Grúberová, Lucia Popp, Peter Dvorský, R. Petrák, S. Kopčák, M. Hajóssyová, E. Jenisová, J. Galla, Jozef Kundlák, and many others. The ballet ensemble has grown from a group in 1920 to a huge ensemble today. It was opened as the City Theater on September 22,1886 with the opera Bánk bán of Ferenc Erkel, as a sign of this events importance Kálmán Tisza Hungarian Prime Minister and his all government, Mór Jókai took part on this ceremony. Gala performance was conducted by Ferenc Erkel himself, the original building was designed for 1000 spectators and was illuminated using 800 gas lamps, while the auditorium had a lustre with 64 lights. The interior was decorated, with frescos of by Pressburg/Pozsony native painter Kornél Spányik and by paintings by Munich artist Leo Lüttgendorf-Leinburg, the City Theater was hired by German and Hungarian professional theater companies, but beginning in 1919, it was used by Czech and later also Slovak ensembles. In 1920 it became the Slovak National Theater, the new building was constructed on the site of a previous Classic style theater built in 1776, the first permanent theater building in today Slovakia, which was demolished in 1884. Bratislava native sculptor Viktor Oskar Tilgner crafted the famous Ganymedes Fountain in 1888, the building has housed Slovak National Theater ensembles since 1920, but today only the opera and ballet ensembles are resident
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High Street
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High Street is a metonym for the concept of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations. To distinguish it from centres of nearby places it is frequently preceded unofficially by the name of its settlement, in a town it implies the focal point for business, especially shops and street stalls in town and city centres. The equivalent in the United States and some parts of Canada, as well as some Northern English, the smallest High Street in Britain is located in a small market town in Devon called Holsworthy. The street itself is no more than 100 yards long and there are three shops located on Holsworthys High Street. High Street is the most common name in the UK. Already in Middle English the word denoted a metaphorical meaning of excellence or superior rank. High also applied to roads as they improved, highway was a new term taken up by the church, High Street gradually adopted a narrower meaning to describe thoroughfares with significant retail in large villages and towns. In the United Kingdom geographic concentration of goods and services has reduced the share of the economy contributed to by workers in the high street, High street refers to only a part of commerce. The town centre in many British towns combines a group of outdoor shopping streets, the continued vitality of towns is predicated on a number of different variables. The way that consumers perceive and use town centres has also fundamentally changed, in order to address the issues threatening the sustainability of towns it is increasingly important to consider consumer behaviour and customer experience. High Streets are less seen in Ireland. Neither of Dublins two main shopping streets carry this name, nor does its main thoroughfare, while Dublin has a High Street near Christchurch, it is not a shopping street. The city of Corks main shopping street is St. Patricks Street, Limericks, Main Street is used in many smaller towns and villages. For example, the OSI North Leinster Town Maps book lists sixteen Main Streets, similarly, the OSI Dublin Street Guide lists twenty Main Streets and only two High Streets. Killarney and Galway are two of the few large Irish towns in which the streets are named High Street. Nonetheless, the high street is often used in the Irish media to refer generically to shopping streets. The phrase High Street banks is used to refer to the banking sector in the United Kingdom. The equivalent in the United States, sometimes in Canada and Ireland is Main Street, in Jamaica, North East England and some sections of Canada and the United States, the main commercial district is Front Street
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Pharmacy Salvator
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Pharmacy Salvator is a neo-renaissance building and former pharmacy in the Old Town of Bratislava, Slovakia constructed by pharmacist Rudolf Adler in 1904. The building used to contain culturally protected baroque pharmaceutical furniture from the year 1727 which is today in a private collection, the buildings facade features a stone statue of Christ the Saviour by sculptor Alojz Rigele. The ground floor is abandoned and the floors contain 10 flats. Since 1963 the building is a protected monument and it is one of the more striking examples of neo-renaissance architecture in Bratislava. Pharmacy Salvator is located across the street from the monumental St. Martins Cathedral, in the 17th century Archbishop of Esztergom Georg Lippay founded a pharmacy for his own personal use. In 1658 he donated the pharmacy to the Jesuit Order, where it resided in the building of the Jesuit Collegium on Kapitulská Street No.26. In 1735 it was auctioned and bought by pharmacist Karol Sessel, in 1833 the pharmacy was moved into the Csáky Palace at Panská Street No.33. All of the tools and furniture from the year 1727 were also moved. The building was constructed by the company Kittler a Gratzl in 1904, compared to neighboring structures at that time the building was rather high, having five above ground floors. Having survived both World Wars, Pharmacy Salvator was nationalized in 1950 becoming the property of the Medika state company, in the mid-1990s the building was privatized and the City of Bratislava acquired half of the building. The state pharmacy operated according to a contract between the Bratislava City Magistrate and Faculty hospital of Bratislava, in October 1995 FN cancelled the contract. At that time the rent was 250 SKK per meter squared per year, the rent was set at 250 SKK per meter squared per year, altogether 38,000 SKK per year for the whole building. Spectrum Reality immediately rented the building for 300,000 SKK per year to Slovak footballer Štefan Maixner, who was the boyfriend of Eva Majská, Maixner in turn immediately rented the building for 400,000 SKK per year to an unknown company. There was a demand in the contract between the city of Bratislava and Spectrum Reality which stipulated that only a pharmacy may be operated in the building. In 2001 the Bratislava City Magistrate was planning to operate a tea house in the premises with the sale of homeopathics, in 2002 Spectrum Reality started reconstructing the interior of the pharmacy and turning it into a café. The unauthorized destruction of a protected monument was stopped by the Monument Inspection. In 2002, Mayor of Bratislava Jozef Moravčík, publicly blamed his predecessor Peter Kresánek for the contract damaging the city, the contract could be voided only if the building was to be used for commercial activity other than a pharmacy operation. Since no pharmacy can operate in the due to environmental reasons, Moravčík suggested that the city has a weak position in any possible lawsuit
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Zochova
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The lower half of the street formed part of the Old Town of medieval Pressburg, with the first written account confirming its existence dating from the 14th century. Zochova Street is located just 5 minutes walking distance from the city center and 5 minutes walking distance from the Presidential palace at Hodžovo námestie. Since 1930, the street has been named after Samuel Zoch, Slovak evangelical bishop and politician, Zoch served also as the Župan of Bratislavská župa and the city of Bratislava from 1918 to 1919. While the lower part of the street has existed since the Middle Ages, the street is first mentioned in a tax register from 1379 under the name of Sluttergasse. Its name comes from the dirt silts from the hill above during storm time, in 1439, the street included 17 houses, one majer,7 gardens, a water well, evangelical cemetery and a tavern. New houses were built over time, during that time, the street was mostly home to winemakers, potters and carpenters but also painters and customs men. Throughout the Middle Ages, this area of Pressburg was known to be home mostly to craftsmen, at least since 1536 the street was named Turnergasse. In the 18th century it is named Schluder Gassel, before the street received its current name in 1930, it was called Telocvičná Street. Many of todays buildings are the result of the splitting of two large gardens – Prepoštská Garden in 1873 and Pálffy Garden in 1890, Prepoštská Garden was located at the place of Podjavorinskej Street and was 5289 square fathoms in area. It contained homestead buildings, some ploughed land and a vegetable shop, also, herbs grown in this garden were subscribed and delivered to the neighboring Slubeks distillery. Pálffy Garden was situated on a hill between Zámocká Street, Škarniclova Street, Palisády Street, Zochova Street and Pilárikova Street, one of the other gardens mentioned is Heindls garden next to Prepoštská Garden. The second oldest existing structure is a maternity hospital and a school for midwives built in 1882 according to a project by Ignác Feigler Jr and its initiator, founder and first director was Dr. Ján Ambra from Beckov. The building later housed the maternity and gynaecology clinic of Comenius University in Bratislava, there is a dispute over the ownership of the buildings contents between the Faculty Hospital of Bratislava and the Medical Faculty of Comenius University in Bratislava. Before World War II, the building was expanded, a modern wing containing maternity wards and operation rooms was added by Alexander Feigler. Even with this change, the building is an example of 19th century urbanisation in Pressburg. The maternity hospital was soon followed by the building of the real school. At the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century, two Jewish schools were followed a few years later by a meštianska school and another one at the edge of Zochova and Palisády Street. The latter building is an eclectic two-storey house with many details, today, the building is home to Electrotechnics High School
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Church (building)
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A church building, often simply called a church, is a building used for Christian religious activities, particularly worship services. The term in its sense is most often used by Christians to refer to their religious buildings. In traditional Christian architecture, the church is arranged in the shape of a Christian cross. When viewed from plan view the longest part of a cross is represented by the aisle, towers or domes are often added with the intention of directing the eye of the viewer towards the heavens and inspiring church visitors. The earliest identified Christian church was a church founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, a cathedral is a church, usually Roman Catholic, Anglican, Oriental Orthodox or Eastern Orthodox, housing the seat of a bishop. In standard Greek usage, the word ecclesia was retained to signify both a specific edifice of Christian worship, and the overall community of the faithful. This usage was retained in Latin and the languages derived from Latin, as well as in the Celtic languages. In the Germanic and some Slavic languages, the word kyriak-ós/-ē/-ón was adopted instead, in Old English the sequence of derivation started as cirice, then churche, and eventually church in its current pronunciation. German Kirche, Scottish kirk, Russian церковь, etc. are all similarly derived, according to the New Testament, the earliest Christians did not build church buildings. Instead, they gathered in homes or in Jewish worship places like the Second Temple or synagogues, the earliest archeologically identified Christian church is a house church, the Dura-Europos church, founded between 233 and 256. During the 11th through 14th centuries, a wave of building of cathedrals, in addition to being a place of worship, the cathedral or parish church was used by the community in other ways. It could serve as a place for guilds or a hall for banquets. Mystery plays were performed in cathedrals, and cathedrals might also be used for fairs. The church could be used as a place to thresh and store grain, a common architecture for churches is the shape of a cross. These churches also often have a dome or other large vaulted space in the interior to represent or draw attention to the heavens. Other common shapes for churches include a circle, to represent eternity, or an octagon or similar star shape, another common feature is the spire, a tall tower on the west end of the church or over the crossing. The Latin word basilica was used to describe a Roman public building
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Palace
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A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which housed the Imperial residences, in many parts of Europe, the term is also applied to ambitious private mansions of the aristocracy. Many historic palaces are now put to uses such as parliaments, museums, hotels. The word is sometimes used to describe a lavishly ornate building used for public entertainment or exhibitions. The word palace comes from Old French palais, from Latin Palātium, the original palaces on the Palatine Hill were the seat of the imperial power while the capitol on the Capitoline Hill was the religious nucleus of Rome. Long after the city grew to the seven hills the Palatine remained a residential area. Emperor Caesar Augustus lived there in a purposely modest house only set apart from his neighbours by the two trees planted to flank the front door as a sign of triumph granted by the Senate. His descendants, especially Nero, with his Golden House, enlarged the house, the word Palātium came to mean the residence of the emperor rather than the neighbourhood on top of the hill. Palace meaning government can be recognized in a remark of Paul the Deacon, AD790 and describing events of the 660s, When Grimuald set out for Beneventum, he entrusted his palace to Lupus. At the same time, Charlemagne was consciously reviving the Roman expression in his palace at Aachen, in the 9th century, the palace indicated the housing of the government too, and the constantly travelling Charlemagne built fourteen. In the Holy Roman Empire the powerful independent Electors came to be housed in palaces and this has been used as evidence that power was widely distributed in the Empire, as in more centralized monarchies, only the monarchs residence would be a palace. In modern times, the term has been applied by archaeologists and historians to large structures that housed combined ruler, court, in informal usage, a palace can be extended to a grand residence of any kind. The earliest known palaces were the residences of the Egyptian Pharaohs at Thebes, featuring an outer wall enclosing labyrinthine buildings. Other ancient palaces include the Assyrian palaces at Nimrud and Nineveh, the Minoan palace at Knossos, the Brazilian new capital, Brasília, hosts modern palaces, most designed by the citys architect Oscar Niemeyer. The Alvorada Palace is the residence of the Brazils president. The Planalto Palace is the official workplace, the Jaburu Palace is the official residence of Brazils vice-president. In Canada, Government House is a given to the official residences of the Canadian monarchy. The use of the term Government House is a custom from the British Empire
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Middle Ages
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In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or Medieval Period lasted from the 5th to the 15th century. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance, the Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history, classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is subdivided into the Early, High. Population decline, counterurbanisation, invasion, and movement of peoples, the large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the seventh century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire—came under the rule of the Umayyad Caliphate, although there were substantial changes in society and political structures, the break with classical antiquity was not complete. The still-sizeable Byzantine Empire survived in the east and remained a major power, the empires law code, the Corpus Juris Civilis or Code of Justinian, was rediscovered in Northern Italy in 1070 and became widely admired later in the Middle Ages. In the West, most kingdoms incorporated the few extant Roman institutions, monasteries were founded as campaigns to Christianise pagan Europe continued. The Franks, under the Carolingian dynasty, briefly established the Carolingian Empire during the later 8th, the Crusades, first preached in 1095, were military attempts by Western European Christians to regain control of the Holy Land from Muslims. Kings became the heads of centralised nation states, reducing crime and violence, intellectual life was marked by scholasticism, a philosophy that emphasised joining faith to reason, and by the founding of universities. Controversy, heresy, and the Western Schism within the Catholic Church paralleled the conflict, civil strife. Cultural and technological developments transformed European society, concluding the Late Middle Ages, the Middle Ages is one of the three major periods in the most enduring scheme for analysing European history, classical civilisation, or Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Modern Period. Medieval writers divided history into periods such as the Six Ages or the Four Empires, when referring to their own times, they spoke of them as being modern. In the 1330s, the humanist and poet Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua, leonardo Bruni was the first historian to use tripartite periodisation in his History of the Florentine People. Bruni and later argued that Italy had recovered since Petrarchs time. The Middle Ages first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas or middle season, in early usage, there were many variants, including medium aevum, or middle age, first recorded in 1604, and media saecula, or middle ages, first recorded in 1625. The alternative term medieval derives from medium aevum, tripartite periodisation became standard after the German 17th-century historian Christoph Cellarius divided history into three periods, Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. The most commonly given starting point for the Middle Ages is 476, for Europe as a whole,1500 is often considered to be the end of the Middle Ages, but there is no universally agreed upon end date. English historians often use the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485 to mark the end of the period
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Bratislava fortifications
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Bratislava fortifications usually refers to the medieval city fortifications of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, of which one gate and two sections of walls remain today. The Bratislava Castle was also heavily fortified, the pinnacle of the communist era city defense was a military rocket base located on the Devínska Kobyla hill, the highest point in the city. The medieval city fortifications are the system of fortifications of the city of Bratislava, most of the medieval fortification system was demolished in the year 1775 by the order of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, the rest being torn down in the 18th and 19th centuries. The only remaining consistent stretch of Bratislava city walls running from the St, construction of the medieval fortifications in Bratislava started in the 13th century. By the end of the 14th century, there were three leading to the town, the Michaels Gate, Vydrica Gate and Laurinc Gate. In the 15th century another smaller gate was added, the Fishermens Gate, the suburbs gradually grew around the fortification walls, which were fortified in the 15th century with embankments and dykes on the order of King Sigismund, after a Hussite invasion. The towns outer line had five gates, the Kozia Gate, the city fortifications were made of stone, walls being 130-160 centimeters thick. According to Slovak historians, the system was built as a whole from the end of the 13th century until the half of the 14th century. The top of the walls was crowned by battlement, in 1599 the fortress on the Schlossberg was inherited by the Pálffy family, and Jews were allowed to return to two quarters of the fortress area – Schlossberg and Zuckermandel. Due to the Turkish threat in the 16th century, the fortifications were reconstructed by Italian builders specialising in fortress building, other changes were also planned in the 17th century, but only castle fortresses were implemented. However, as the inner walls were slowing the towns growth. Demolition continued until 1778, the moats were filled and the united with its suburbs. At the beginning of the 19th century, the walls were also demolished. The remaining stretch of city walls was reconstructed in two phases between 1975 and 1991, the system of fortifications of medieval Bratislava contained several bastions and guard towers. The large horshoe-shaped bastions protruding into the area between the inner and outer wall rings usually had their own name, the smaller, half circle-shaped ones were usually referred to in their relation to other prominent bastions or city gates in their vicinity. Bastions were built more extensively comparatively late, only after cannons improved and this is a list of named bastions running clockwise from Michaels Gate towards Laurinc Gate then Fishermens Gate then Vydrica Gate and then back to Michaels Gate. The south part of city walls were protected enough by the environment of the river Danube creating a system of small tree-less islands. 11, today it contains the coffeehouse Korzo, today, only Michaels Gate, a short stretch of former wall by it and a section by St. Martins Cathedral approximately 200 metres in length have survived
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Democratic Party (Slovakia)
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The Democratic Party was the name of two political parties in Slovakia, one active between 1944 and 1948, and the other between 1989 and 2006. The historical Democratic Party arose in 1944 during the Slovak National Uprising as a party for all non-Communist participants. In the 1946 elections in Czechoslovakia, the party won as much as 62% of votes in Slovakia, but was liquidated in 1947-1948 by the Communists, the rest of the party was transformed into the pseudo-party Party of Slovak Revival within the see National Front. In December 1989, i. e. at the end of the Velvet Revolution, when it was founded, it saw itself a continuation of the historical Democratic Party. It won 7 seats out of 150 in the Slovak parliament and no seats in the parliament in 1990. Hagyari, and the vice-chairman was Ivan Mikloš, the minister of Slovakia in 2010 -2012. In the 1994 parliamentary election, the party run for parliamentary seats together with the Strana podnikateľov a živnostníkov, hagyari was replaced by Ján Langoš, the former minister of the interior of Czechoslovakia, in 1995. Shortly before the election however the party withdraw its candidature and recommended its voters to vote for the Slovak Democratic, after a scandal, however, Kaník left the government in October 2005 and talks about a merge of the Democratic Party with the SDKÚ were announced. The extraordinary party congress held on December 17,2005 approved that the party be merged with the SDKÚ, the merger was approved by a SDKÚ congress held on January 21,2006
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Serbia
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Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a sovereign state situated at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. Relative to its territory, it is a diverse country distinguished by a transitional character, situated along cultural, geographic, climatic. Serbia numbers around 7 million residents, and its capital, Belgrade, following the Slavic migrations to the Balkans from the 6th century onwards, Serbs established several states in the early Middle Ages. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, in the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the regions first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro which dissolved peacefully in 2006, in 2008 the parliament of the province of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community. Serbia is a member of organizations such as the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC. An EU membership candidate since 2012, Serbia has been negotiating its EU accession since January 2014, the country is acceding to the WTO and is a militarily neutral state. Serbia is an income economy with dominant service sector, followed by the industrial sector. The country ranks high on the Social Progress Index as well as the Global Peace Index, relatively high on the Human Development Index, located at the crossroads between Central and Southern Europe, Serbia is found in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain. Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N, and longitudes 18° and 23° E. The country covers a total of 88,361 km2, which places it at 113th place in the world, with Kosovo excluded, the area is 77,474 km2. Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km, all of Kosovos border with Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro are under control of the Kosovo border police. The Pannonian Plain covers the third of the country while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain. The terrain of the part of the country, with the region of Šumadija at its heart. Mountains dominate the third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina, the Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system, elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres to the lowest point of just 17 metres near the Danube river at Prahovo. The largest lake is Đerdap Lake and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube, the climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea
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Obrenovac
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Obrenovac is a suburban neighborhood and one of 17 city municipalities which constitute the city of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. According to the 2011 census results, the municipality has a population of 71,419 inhabitants, the largest Serbian thermal power plant TPP Nikola Tesla is located on the outskirts of the municipality. Obrenovac was also submerged and completely evacuated during the 2014 Southeast Europe floods, Obrenovac is situated 30 km south-west of central Belgrade near bends of the river Sava to the north. The river Kolubara flows to the east of the town on its way to join the Sava, total land area of the municipality of Obrenovac is 411 km2. Apart from the town, it consists of the villages, Some of the neighborhoods in the town are Topolice, Rojkovac, Dudovi, Rvati, Muzička kolonija, Sljivice, Belo polje, Gaj. In the Middle Ages, the area was part of Serbian states, king of Srem Dragutin Nemanjić ruled it between 1282 and 1319, and established monasteries in Grabovac and Mislođin. In 1521, it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire, who ruled it for the next 300 years, subsequently, it was site of numerous battles in frequent Ottoman–Habsburg wars and often changed hands. Austrian Regent of Serbia Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg built a house in nearby village of Stubline. On 11 April 1815, during the Second Serbian Uprising, the town was burned to the ground by Serbian forces in a battle against Ottomans and it was restored in 1859 by prince of Serbia Miloš Obrenović, after whom it was named. The Municipality of Obrenovac was incorporated within community of Belgrade municipalities in 1957, the Day of the Municipality is December 20, the date of the decree of Prince Miloš Obrenović by which the name of Obrenovac was instituted, and its patron day is the Holy Trinity. Obrenovac was Serbian town which suffered the greatest damage by the floods in May 2014. Most of the population has been evacuated to safety, sudden surge of water from Kolubara river on May 15 devastated the town, killing at least 14 persons, with several persons still missing. Largest Serbian thermal power plant TPP Nikola Tesla is located on the outskirts of the town, there is a green market in the centre of the town, and also flea market to the south of the town on the Valjevo road. The most famous club from Obrenovac is FK Radnički Obrenovac. The oldest school in the town is next to Topolice. It carries the name of Jovan Popović, the school was built by Miloš Obrenović. Obrenovac High School Three bus lines connect Obrenovac with Belgrade,860, 860E and 861A
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Eurovea
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Eurovea is a business, retail and residential complex in Bratislava, Slovakia, located near the Apollo bridge and Tower 115 building. The construction cost was circa €13M and it opened to the public on March 26th,2010. The first plans to build a project were by Imrich Barta. However, his work was stopped by the communist government, Eurovea includes the Eurovea Galleria shopping mall, which covers an area of 60,000 m²
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River Park (Bratislava)
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River Park is a multifunction center on the river Danube in Bratislava with the overall area of 32000 m². It contains 200 luxury flats and apartments, 5-star Kempinski hotel, various restaurants and shops, and a rest area with places, trees. River Park is located on the left river Donau bank between the Park kultúry a oddychu bridge Most SNP and its location in the city center makes it easily accessible from all city districts and via the direct city transport network also from Vienna, Budapest, Prague etc. River Park consists of 4 blocks, in the underground area are 3 floors with over 1100 parking places,400 are exclusively for the River Park inhabitants. Block 1 is on the side and contains flats and shops with administration. River House is the dominant of the complex. Its construction is beyond the promenade and ends over the river level, inside are apartments, and in the northern part are administration offices. Kempinski Hotel River Park with the plan of letter L makes the square of the complex with the River House. 5-star hotel offers accommodation, congress halls, restaurants, bars and recreation part with swimming pools, block 4 is the biggest block in the eastern part of the complex and is the closest to the city center. Also here are flats with windows oriented to the Donau and offices oriented to the north, at the ground floor are various public utilities and services. For parking there are underground floors with over 1100 parking places, all flats are in the southern part of the complex. The flat area is between 70 m² and 535 m², and each contains a balcony or loggia, in each apartment should be a broadband internet connection and a cable TV
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