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Experience Bratislava - 72-hour City

Bratislava is known for its cobbled streets, historical buildings, palaces andmonuments. Discover the best of its history.

<p>Its style, sometimes known as Hungarian Secession, is repeated in the nearby grammar school on Grösslingová Street. Both were designed by Budapest architect Edmund Lechner and built in the early twentieth century (the church was consecrated on 11 October, 1913).</p>
<p>Both the interior and exterior of the church are painted in shades of pale blue and decorated with blue majolica; even the roof is tiled with blue-glazed ceramics. The structure incorporates a 36.8-metre round tower.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" width="640" height="800" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-286648" src="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Foto_Sopinec_nevyhradna_licencia_casovo_neobmedzena_modry-kostol_2023-13-1-640x800.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Foto_Sopinec_nevyhradna_licencia_casovo_neobmedzena_modry-kostol_2023-13-1-640x800.jpg 640w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Foto_Sopinec_nevyhradna_licencia_casovo_neobmedzena_modry-kostol_2023-13-1-320x400.jpg 320w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Foto_Sopinec_nevyhradna_licencia_casovo_neobmedzena_modry-kostol_2023-13-1-768x960.jpg 768w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Foto_Sopinec_nevyhradna_licencia_casovo_neobmedzena_modry-kostol_2023-13-1-160x200.jpg 160w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Foto_Sopinec_nevyhradna_licencia_casovo_neobmedzena_modry-kostol_2023-13-1.jpg 907w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></p>


Blue Church

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<p>Built on the top of a high crag, it towers over the small village of Devín and the confluence of the Danube and the Morava rivers which form the border with Austria. Up to 1989 the Iron Curtain was drawn below the Castle, lined with barbed wire. Along the Danube, under the Castle and further up the Morava, the Morava cycle-path leads through landscapes untouched for decades. Above the village of Devín, the highest hill of Bratislava is criss-crossed with a number of way-marked paths which offer spectacular views of neighbouring Austria with Vienna and the Alps in the background. There are actually two castles in Bratislava. Paradoxically, both of them were destroyed within the same two year period.</p>
<p>The upper castle, where the permanent exhibition “Devín Castle between the 13th &#8211; 20th centuries” is located, offers an unforgettable view. The archaeological finds of the castle Devín and the historical facts talk about the individual phases of the castle building. The exhibition is located in the attractive premises located on the castle cliff.</p>
<div class="odsek">
<p>This site at the confluence of the Danube and Moravia has been settled since prehistoric times. Devín was part of Limes Romanus after the Celtic period from 1st to 4th centuries. In the 9th century it was connected with the name of Prince Rastislav. A royal border fort as gradually built in the upper castle. In 1809, the castle was destroyed by Napoleon’s troops. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Latest entry possible 45 minutes before closing time.</strong></li>
<li><strong>100% discount with <a href="https://card.visitbratislava.com/discount/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bratislava CARD</a></strong>&#8211; one free entry per Card only</li>
</ul>
<p>Information about admission <a href="https://muzeumbratislava.sk/vstupne" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a></p>
<p><strong>Stunning view</strong></p>
<p>While Bratislava Castle was rebuilt, Devín has remained a romantic ruin. However, this has not diminished its attractions; quite the opposite, since it is the most-visited sightseeing venue in the whole of Slovakia. It is also one of the largest castles in the country and is easily accessible from the centre of Bratislava by <strong>car, bus, <a href="https://www.lod.sk/en/calendar-of-our-cruises/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boat </a>or <a href="https://www.visitbratislava.com/your-trip/discover-city/sports/cycling/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bike</a>. </strong> The bus terminus is at a large car-park below the Castle; this is also a convenient place for car-parking. The Castle is entered via the gate situated behind the Castle Gate Hotel. The effort expended in climbing up to the central part of the Castle will be rewarded with a picturesque view of the surrounding landscape. You can try out the depth of the castle well by pouring water from a bucket. However, you have still more to do to deserve the spectacular panoramic views from the Upper Castle. A long, seemingly endless fl ight of steep steps awaits you.</p>
<p>Once you get to the viewpoint and are hit by a powerful gust of wind, you will feel as though you’re flying high above the land, like the hawk passing nearby. You are standing on the top of an 80-metre-high rock outcrop and you should add at least three more floors to it; such was the height of the Upper Castle. No wonder so many battles were fought over this place. In good weather conditions you can see Vienna and the peak of Schneeberg (2075 m) in the Alps. On your way down, a small path to the right behind the Middle Castle will lead you up to a grassy knoll with the ruined foundations of a church from the 9th century. It’s hard to imagine a place better suited to meditation. Back at the car-park, turn left. The road leads you to the confl uence of the Danube and the Morava. All the land across the water, whether the Danube or the Morava, is Austria.</p>
<p><strong>Cycling and hiking around the Devín Castle</strong></p>
<p>It is just a stone’s-throw away but for forty years it was an unattainable distance. Here was the barbed wire fence and many people were shot dead. Their unnecessary deaths are commemorated in a memorial bearing the names of the victims. In the meantime, if you have become hungry, return to the car-park and you can choose between the elegant hotel or a more folkstyle restaurant offering specialities like roast knuckle of pork or beef goulash. Those of you with bikes or in-line skates can continue along the Morava. The present cycle-path is the former military patrol route from which soldiers guarded the Iron Curtain. Because it was a longterm exclusion zone, the whole area along the river has retained its original habitat with its precious floodplain forests and water meadows which are home to beavers. Hikers can explore the western hillside of Devínska Kobyla (514 m), a nature reserve rich in precious and rare flora.</p>
<p>In spring and summer, the meadows are dotted with beautiful flowers. The upper end of the car-park marks the start of a blue way-marked path which leads you out of the village. After a thirty- minute climb you are on the path, parallel with the Morava, leading to the <strong>Sandberg hill</strong>. The meadows are decorated with flowers, interspersed with occasional woodland, and you may find it difficult to concentrate on the path, so fascinating are the views of the Morava and Austria beyond the river. After another half hour’s walk, sand cliff s open out in front of you. Millions of years ago, this was the shore of an ocean and if you look carefully you will see fossils of mussels in the sand. The path will lead you to the historical part of the village of Devínska Nová Ves. Turning to the left will lead you back to the Morava and the main road. You can return to Devín by bus or walk along the Morava.</p>
<p>Those who would like to explore this unspoilt stretch of river with paddles in their hands, and observe storks and herons on the way, should start a raft trip in the village of Vysoká pri Morave and finish beneath the Castle. A raft trip like this lasts the whole day.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.domcentrope.sk/map_CM/en/index.html">The Great Moravian Mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius</a>:</strong> May it be a map, leaflet, or book about Saints Cyril and Methodius that you come across or perhaps you will hear, right at the foot of the Devín Castle, bits of the castle’s history from an innovative infopanel, or you may simply use the <a href="http://www.domcentrope.sk/map_CM/en/index.html?bookmark=Story%20map">Storymap</a> &#8211; the <a href="http://www.domcentrope.sk/map_CM/en/index.html?bookmark=Mobile%20application">electronic guide</a> when travelling along the Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius, where you can learn about historical sights and places linked to the Great Moravia bearing the legacy of the Thessaloniki brothers.</p>
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Devín Castle

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<p>It features in the first written reference to the city, which appears in the Annals of Salzburg of 907, in association with a battle between Bavarians and Hungarians. The castle hill was populated as early as the late Stone Age; its first known inhabitants were the Celts, who founded a fortified settlement here called ‘Oppidum’.</p>
<p>For four centuries, the border of the Roman Empire, the ‘Limes Romanus’, ran through the area. During the Great Moravian Empire, Slavs built a fortress that became a significant centre for the time. In the 10th century, Bratislava became an integral part of the growing Hungarian state; a stone palace and the church of St Saviour and its chapter were built on the castle hill in the 11th century. In the 15th century, in the reign of Sigismund of Luxembourg, a castle was built in Gothic style as an anti-Hussite fortress. During this period, a new entrance to the castle was built on the eastern side – Sigismund&#8217;s Gate – while 7-metre-thick fortifications were constructed on the western side, and a castle well dug in 1437.</p>
<p>In the 16th century, King Ferdinand ordered the rebuilding of the castle in the Renaissance style, while in the 17th century, when the castle became the seat of hereditary provincial chief, Pálffy, it was rebuilt in the baroque style. In the reign of Maria Theresa, the castle was arranged according to the needs of her son-in-law Albert, governor of Saxony and Tessen, who was a fervent art collector and who installed his works in the castle. This collection was later moved to Vienna to become the present-day Albertina Gallery. Since independence, the castle has served as a representative venue for the Slovak Parliament and houses collections of the <a href="http://www.snm.sk/?about-the-museum-3">Slovak National Museum.</a></p>
<h3>Slovak National Museum-Museum of History (Bratislava Castle)</h3>
<p>The museum collections proving the development of society in Slovakia from the Middle Ages up to the present. It also builds up, administers and processes a numismatic collection from the earliest times up to the present and collections documenting the history and ethnological development of Slovak people abroad.</p>
<h3>The Treasury</h3>
<p>Among the most attractive objects in the SNM-Historical Museum collection fund are goldsmith and silversmith works. In the spirit of style orientations, contemporary taste and aesthetic requirements of a given period of time, they represent the artistic skills and craftsmanship, taste and feeling of goldsmith and silversmith masters. They document the variety and ornamental richness of different styles, the labour intensity of various gold and silversmith techniques, as well as the aesthetic requirements of their commissioners.</p>
<p>The Treasury is situated on left side of the castle, under main gate.</p>
<p><strong>The Baroque garden</strong> on the grounds of Bratislava Castle was originally built according to the design of the architect of empress Maria Theresa. Stroll among the silver linden trees and statues and take a photo by the central fountain. A high wall built on the exact foundations of the original wall surrounds the restored garden with green shrubs creating baroque patterns.</p>
<h3>Opening hours of the museum:</h3>
<p>open daily <strong>except Tuesdays</strong> from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., last entry at 5 p.m.</p>
<h3>Opening hours of the Bratislava Castle grounds:</h3>
<p>open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.</p>
<p><strong>Entrance fee: 14 Eur, 100 % discount with Bratislava Card*</strong></p>
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Bratislava Castle

<p>Red Stone castle, named after the red colour of the quartzite on which was built, is situated nearby the settlement called Pila. Getting to the settlement Pila by car, you can choose for two alternatives: either you follow the yellow-blazed trail from Pila that leads directly to the castle or you proceed to the end of the settlement and in the village part called Horna Pila, turn to the right continue right to the castle. To the Red Stone castle is accessible also from the village Casta, following the asphalt road.</p>
<p>It is open all year except 24th, 25th, 26th December, 1st January and Mondays from 1 October to 30 April, but its activities for visitors take place especially during the season, from the 1st May to 30th September.</p>
<p>*100% discount with <a href="https://card.visitbratislava.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bratislava CARD</a></p>
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Red Stone Castle

<p>Bratislava&#8217;s three-nave Gothic cathedral is built on the site of a previous, Romanesque church, dedicated to the Holy Saviour, from 1221. After 1291, when Bratislava was given the privileges of a town, the church was rebuilt to become part of the city walls (its tower served as a defensive bastion). The present church was consecrated in 1452.</p>
<p>The interior of the church is large – 69.37 metres long, 22.85 metres wide and 16.02 metres high – and features a grand internal divided portal with a preserved tympanum and a relief of the Holy Trinity.</p>
<p>It has four chapels: the canons’ chapel; the Gothic chapel of Sophia of Bavaria, widow of the Czech King Wenceslas IV; the chapel of St Anne; and the baroque chapel of St John the Merciful. The portal of the southern antechamber represents the oldest example of Renaissance architecture in Slovakia.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" class="wp-image-286661 size-full aligncenter" src="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img167.jpg" alt="" width="1660" height="786" srcset="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img167.jpg 1660w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img167-400x189.jpg 400w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img167-800x379.jpg 800w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img167-768x364.jpg 768w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img167-1536x727.jpg 1536w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img167-200x95.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 1660px) 100vw, 1660px" /></p>
<p>Between 1563 and 1830 St Martin&#8217;s served as the coronation church for Hungarian kings and their consorts, marked to this day by a 300-kg gilded replica of the Hungarian royal crown perched on the top of the cathedral&#8217;s 85-metre-tall neo-Gothic tower. <strong>Ten kings, one queen and seven royal wives from the Habsburg Dynasty were crowned in St. Martin’s Cathedral.</strong></p>
<p>At the beginning of September each year the pomp and circumstance of the coronation returns to Bratislava in a faithful reconstruction of the ceremony.</p>
<p>The first monumental work of central-European sculpture made from lead can be found inside the cathedral. It was created by Georg Raphael Donner for the main altar of St Martin&#8217;s in 1734. The group is now in the side nave of the church as a free statue on a pedestal. It depicts St Martin sitting on a horse rampant, bending to a beggar and cutting his overcoat to share it with the poor man.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter wp-image-286667 size-full" src="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img21.jpg" alt="" width="676" height="445" srcset="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img21.jpg 676w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img21-400x263.jpg 400w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/img21-200x132.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px" /></p>


St. Martin's Cathedral

<p>A 15th-century bastion, part of the city&#8217;s mediaeval fortifications, once stood on the site of the present-day Old Market House – or Stará tržnica. In 1910 the present building, which was the first covered market in Bratislava, was erected according to an eclectic design by František Nechyba. In front of the market building is a fountain called The Lion with Coat of Arms.</p>
<p>The fountain in front of the Old Market Hall was assembled from parts of an older fountain and renovated in 1937. Near the fountain, under a glass canopy, the remnants of the walls of the 11th-century St Jacob&#8217;s Chapel are visible. You can find many nice places here to <a href="https://staratrznica.sk/en/businesses-and-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have a snack or drink</a>.</p>
<h3>Saturday market Trh-Piac-Markt</h3>
<p>We invite you to go shopping in the Old Market every Saturday from 09:00 to 15:00 you can find fresh artisan food from local farmers, producers and small family manufactories under one roof. The range is further complemented by high-quality foreign delicacies, natural cosmetics, indoor and cut flowers.</p>
<p>On the first floor, you will find vendors of the Bratislava book market, where you can buy fiction, professional literature, graphics or LP records. This unique event also takes place from 09:00 to 15:00 on the market floor. You can also find here records, postcards, magazines, CDs, comics and posters.</p>
<p><img loading="lazy" width="1200" height="801" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-214423" src="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Trh-Piac-Markt-001.jpg" alt="" srcset="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Trh-Piac-Markt-001.jpg 1200w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Trh-Piac-Markt-001-400x267.jpg 400w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Trh-Piac-Markt-001-800x534.jpg 800w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Trh-Piac-Markt-001-768x513.jpg 768w, https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Trh-Piac-Markt-001-200x134.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /></p>


Old Market Hall

A 15th-century bastion, part of the city's mediaeval fortifications, once stood on the site of the present-day Old Market House – or Stará tržnica. In 1910 the present building, which was the first covered market in Bratislava, was erected according to an eclectic design by František Nechyba. In front of the market building is a fountain called The Lion with Coat of Arms.

The fountain in front of the Old Market Hall was assembled from parts of an older fountain and renovated in 1937. Near the fountain, under a glass canopy, the remnants of the walls of the 11th-century St Jacob's Chapel are visible. You can find many nice places here to <a href="https://staratrznica.sk/en/businesses-and-services" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have a snack or drink</a>.
<h3>Saturday market Trh-Piac-Markt</h3>
We invite you to go shopping in the Old Market every Saturday from 09:00 to 15:00 you can find fresh artisan food from local farmers, producers and small family manufactories under one roof. The range is further complemented by high-quality foreign delicacies, natural cosmetics, indoor and cut flowers.

On the first floor, you will find vendors of the Bratislava book market, where you can buy fiction, professional literature, graphics or LP records. This unique event also takes place from 09:00 to 15:00 on the market floor. You can also find here records, postcards, magazines, CDs, comics and posters.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-214423" src="https://www.visitbratislava.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Trh-Piac-Markt-001.jpg" alt="" />

Red Stone castle, named after the red colour of the quartzite on which was built, is situated nearby the settlement called Pila. Getting to the settlement Pila by car, you can choose for two alternatives: either you follow the yellow-blazed trail from Pila that leads directly to the castle or you proceed to the end of the settlement and in the village part called Horna Pila, turn to the right continue right to the castle. To the Red Stone castle is accessible also from the village Casta, following the asphalt road.

It is open all year except 24th, 25th, 26th December, 1st January and Mondays from 1 October to 30 April, but its activities for visitors take place especially during the season, from the 1st May to 30th September.

*100% discount with <a href="https://card.visitbratislava.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bratislava CARD</a>

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Its style, sometimes known as Hungarian Secession, is repeated in the nearby grammar school on Grösslingová Street. Both were designed by Budapest architect Edmund Lechner and built in the early twentieth century (the church was consecrated on 11 October, 1913).

Both the interior and exterior of the church are painted in shades of pale blue and decorated with blue majolica; even the roof is tiled with blue-glazed ceramics. The structure incorporates a 36.8-metre round tower.

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It features in the first written reference to the city, which appears in the Annals of Salzburg of 907, in association with a battle between Bavarians and Hungarians. The castle hill was populated as early as the late Stone Age; its first known inhabitants were the Celts, who founded a fortified settlement here called ‘Oppidum’.

For four centuries, the border of the Roman Empire, the ‘Limes Romanus’, ran through the area. During the Great Moravian Empire, Slavs built a fortress that became a significant centre for the time. In the 10th century, Bratislava became an integral part of the growing Hungarian state; a stone palace and the church of St Saviour and its chapter were built on the castle hill in the 11th century. In the 15th century, in the reign of Sigismund of Luxembourg, a castle was built in Gothic style as an anti-Hussite fortress. During this period, a new entrance to the castle was built on the eastern side – Sigismund's Gate – while 7-metre-thick fortifications were constructed on the western side, and a castle well dug in 1437.

In the 16th century, King Ferdinand ordered the rebuilding of the castle in the Renaissance style, while in the 17th century, when the castle became the seat of hereditary provincial chief, Pálffy, it was rebuilt in the baroque style. In the reign of Maria Theresa, the castle was arranged according to the needs of her son-in-law Albert, governor of Saxony and Tessen, who was a fervent art collector and who installed his works in the castle. This collection was later moved to Vienna to become the present-day Albertina Gallery. Since independence, the castle has served as a representative venue for the Slovak Parliament and houses collections of the <a href="http://www.snm.sk/?about-the-museum-3">Slovak National Museum.</a>
<h3>Slovak National Museum-Museum of History (Bratislava Castle)</h3>
The museum collections proving the development of society in Slovakia from the Middle Ages up to the present. It also builds up, administers and processes a numismatic collection from the earliest times up to the present and collections documenting the history and ethnological development of Slovak people abroad.
<h3>The Treasury</h3>
Among the most attractive objects in the SNM-Historical Museum collection fund are goldsmith and silversmith works. In the spirit of style orientations, contemporary taste and aesthetic requirements of a given period of time, they represent the artistic skills and craftsmanship, taste and feeling of goldsmith and silversmith masters. They document the variety and ornamental richness of different styles, the labour intensity of various gold and silversmith techniques, as well as the aesthetic requirements of their commissioners.

The Treasury is situated on left side of the castle, under main gate.

<strong>The Baroque garden</strong> on the grounds of Bratislava Castle was originally built according to the design of the architect of empress Maria Theresa. Stroll among the silver linden trees and statues and take a photo by the central fountain. A high wall built on the exact foundations of the original wall surrounds the restored garden with green shrubs creating baroque patterns.
<h3>Opening hours of the museum:</h3>
open daily <strong>except Tuesdays</strong> from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., last entry at 5 p.m.
<h3>Opening hours of the Bratislava Castle grounds:</h3>
open daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.

<strong>Entrance fee: 14 Eur, 100 % discount with Bratislava Card*</strong>

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Bratislava's three-nave Gothic cathedral is built on the site of a previous, Romanesque church, dedicated to the Holy Saviour, from 1221. After 1291, when Bratislava was given the privileges of a town, the church was rebuilt to become part of the city walls (its tower served as a defensive bastion). The present church was consecrated in 1452.

The interior of the church is large – 69.37 metres long, 22.85 metres wide and 16.02 metres high – and features a grand internal divided portal with a preserved tympanum and a relief of the Holy Trinity.

It has four chapels: the canons’ chapel; the Gothic chapel of Sophia of Bavaria, widow of the Czech King Wenceslas IV; the chapel of St Anne; and the baroque chapel of St John the Merciful. The portal of the southern antechamber represents the oldest example of Renaissance architecture in Slovakia.

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Between 1563 and 1830 St Martin's served as the coronation church for Hungarian kings and their consorts, marked to this day by a 300-kg gilded replica of the Hungarian royal crown perched on the top of the cathedral's 85-metre-tall neo-Gothic tower. <strong>Ten kings, one queen and seven royal wives from the Habsburg Dynasty were crowned in St. Martin’s Cathedral.</strong>

At the beginning of September each year the pomp and circumstance of the coronation returns to Bratislava in a faithful reconstruction of the ceremony.

The first monumental work of central-European sculpture made from lead can be found inside the cathedral. It was created by Georg Raphael Donner for the main altar of St Martin's in 1734. The group is now in the side nave of the church as a free statue on a pedestal. It depicts St Martin sitting on a horse rampant, bending to a beggar and cutting his overcoat to share it with the poor man.

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Built on the top of a high crag, it towers over the small village of Devín and the confluence of the Danube and the Morava rivers which form the border with Austria. Up to 1989 the Iron Curtain was drawn below the Castle, lined with barbed wire. Along the Danube, under the Castle and further up the Morava, the Morava cycle-path leads through landscapes untouched for decades. Above the village of Devín, the highest hill of Bratislava is criss-crossed with a number of way-marked paths which offer spectacular views of neighbouring Austria with Vienna and the Alps in the background. There are actually two castles in Bratislava. Paradoxically, both of them were destroyed within the same two year period.

The upper castle, where the permanent exhibition “Devín Castle between the 13th - 20th centuries” is located, offers an unforgettable view. The archaeological finds of the castle Devín and the historical facts talk about the individual phases of the castle building. The exhibition is located in the attractive premises located on the castle cliff.
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This site at the confluence of the Danube and Moravia has been settled since prehistoric times. Devín was part of Limes Romanus after the Celtic period from 1st to 4th centuries. In the 9th century it was connected with the name of Prince Rastislav. A royal border fort as gradually built in the upper castle. In 1809, the castle was destroyed by Napoleon’s troops. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961.
<ul>
 	<li><strong>Latest entry possible 45 minutes before closing time.</strong></li>
 	<li><strong>100% discount with <a href="https://card.visitbratislava.com/discount/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bratislava CARD</a></strong>- one free entry per Card only</li>
</ul>
Information about admission <a href="https://muzeumbratislava.sk/vstupne" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a>

<strong>Stunning view</strong>

While Bratislava Castle was rebuilt, Devín has remained a romantic ruin. However, this has not diminished its attractions; quite the opposite, since it is the most-visited sightseeing venue in the whole of Slovakia. It is also one of the largest castles in the country and is easily accessible from the centre of Bratislava by <strong>car, bus, <a href="https://www.lod.sk/en/calendar-of-our-cruises/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">boat </a>or <a href="https://www.visitbratislava.com/your-trip/discover-city/sports/cycling/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bike</a>. </strong> The bus terminus is at a large car-park below the Castle; this is also a convenient place for car-parking. The Castle is entered via the gate situated behind the Castle Gate Hotel. The effort expended in climbing up to the central part of the Castle will be rewarded with a picturesque view of the surrounding landscape. You can try out the depth of the castle well by pouring water from a bucket. However, you have still more to do to deserve the spectacular panoramic views from the Upper Castle. A long, seemingly endless fl ight of steep steps awaits you.

Once you get to the viewpoint and are hit by a powerful gust of wind, you will feel as though you’re flying high above the land, like the hawk passing nearby. You are standing on the top of an 80-metre-high rock outcrop and you should add at least three more floors to it; such was the height of the Upper Castle. No wonder so many battles were fought over this place. In good weather conditions you can see Vienna and the peak of Schneeberg (2075 m) in the Alps. On your way down, a small path to the right behind the Middle Castle will lead you up to a grassy knoll with the ruined foundations of a church from the 9th century. It’s hard to imagine a place better suited to meditation. Back at the car-park, turn left. The road leads you to the confl uence of the Danube and the Morava. All the land across the water, whether the Danube or the Morava, is Austria.

<strong>Cycling and hiking around the Devín Castle</strong>

It is just a stone’s-throw away but for forty years it was an unattainable distance. Here was the barbed wire fence and many people were shot dead. Their unnecessary deaths are commemorated in a memorial bearing the names of the victims. In the meantime, if you have become hungry, return to the car-park and you can choose between the elegant hotel or a more folkstyle restaurant offering specialities like roast knuckle of pork or beef goulash. Those of you with bikes or in-line skates can continue along the Morava. The present cycle-path is the former military patrol route from which soldiers guarded the Iron Curtain. Because it was a longterm exclusion zone, the whole area along the river has retained its original habitat with its precious floodplain forests and water meadows which are home to beavers. Hikers can explore the western hillside of Devínska Kobyla (514 m), a nature reserve rich in precious and rare flora.

In spring and summer, the meadows are dotted with beautiful flowers. The upper end of the car-park marks the start of a blue way-marked path which leads you out of the village. After a thirty- minute climb you are on the path, parallel with the Morava, leading to the <strong>Sandberg hill</strong>. The meadows are decorated with flowers, interspersed with occasional woodland, and you may find it difficult to concentrate on the path, so fascinating are the views of the Morava and Austria beyond the river. After another half hour’s walk, sand cliff s open out in front of you. Millions of years ago, this was the shore of an ocean and if you look carefully you will see fossils of mussels in the sand. The path will lead you to the historical part of the village of Devínska Nová Ves. Turning to the left will lead you back to the Morava and the main road. You can return to Devín by bus or walk along the Morava.

Those who would like to explore this unspoilt stretch of river with paddles in their hands, and observe storks and herons on the way, should start a raft trip in the village of Vysoká pri Morave and finish beneath the Castle. A raft trip like this lasts the whole day.

<strong><a href="http://www.domcentrope.sk/map_CM/en/index.html">The Great Moravian Mission of Saints Cyril and Methodius</a>:</strong> May it be a map, leaflet, or book about Saints Cyril and Methodius that you come across or perhaps you will hear, right at the foot of the Devín Castle, bits of the castle’s history from an innovative infopanel, or you may simply use the <a href="http://www.domcentrope.sk/map_CM/en/index.html?bookmark=Story%20map">Storymap</a> - the <a href="http://www.domcentrope.sk/map_CM/en/index.html?bookmark=Mobile%20application">electronic guide</a> when travelling along the Cultural Route of Saints Cyril and Methodius, where you can learn about historical sights and places linked to the Great Moravia bearing the legacy of the Thessaloniki brothers.

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