The historical center of Bratislava is quite compact, you can get around it all in a couple of hours. Despite its small size, here in the Old Town, medieval buildings are quite well preserved, so it will definitely be of interest to tourists. In 1954, Bratislava’s Old Town was declared a national reserve.
Michalska (Mikhailovskaya) street in Bratislava. Pedestrian street, one of the main ones in the old city. Starts near the Mikhailovsky Gate.
You can enter the Old Town through Mikhailovsky Gate, which is the only medieval city gate that has survived to this day. After passing through these gates, you find yourself on the pedestrian Michalska Street, where there are many small souvenir shops, hotels, restaurants and cafes. This is one of the central streets of the Old Town.
Narrow street in the old town. There are many such small medieval streets in the center of Bratislava. They are mostly pedestrian and cannot be reached by car.
By the way, right after the gate, Baštova Street will go to the right – this is the narrowest street in the center of Bratislava, with several medieval arches spanning right across it. You can take some pretty good photos here.
Main square. View of the Roland Fountain, the oldest fountain in Bratislava.
Walking straight along Michalska Street, you can see a number of ancient buildings and palaces. By turning left at the end of the street, you can exit onto theMain Square – the central square of Bratislava. Previously, the city market was located on this square. Now there are several richly decorated buildings – palaces built in the 17th-18th century (Palace of the Hungarian Bill of Exchange Bank, Roland Palace, Paludyai Palace, Aponi Palace, Governor’s Palace, Esterházy Palace), the Roland-Maximilian fountain built in the 16th century, as well as a building Old Town Hall. Every year, various events (fairs, markets, concerts, etc.) are held on Bratislava’s Main Square.
The Old Town Hall of Bratislava is also located on the Main Square. Its yellow tower seems to dominate the old city.
Bratislava Old Town Hall is an interesting and unusual building. It is located between the Main Square and Primas Square. In fact, this is not one building, but a whole complex of several structures built at different times and in different styles. The town hall building itself was originally built in the Gothic style in the 13th-15th century. Later, in the 16th century, a number of neighboring buildings to the town hall were united under one roof with Renaissance arches. The final reconstruction of the building complex took place in the 18th century, when Baroque elements were introduced into the architectural design of the buildings.
View of the Old Town Hall from Primas Square. The entrance to the inner courtyard of the Town Hall is visible ahead.
The yellow main tower of the Town Hall is one of the tallest buildings in the old city and is visible from afar. It was built in the 13th century, but then completely rebuilt in the 18th century in the Baroque style. The Town Hall has an interesting courtyard with many arches. Today, the Old Town Hall of Bratislava houses a museum.
Inner courtyard of the Old Town Hall. The Town Hall itself is a whole complex of buildings located around this courtyard.
Walk around the Town Hall and the central square. Here, in addition to these buildings, there are several more interesting structures. Masha Pasha found the old post office building and the archbishop’s palace with its facade richly decorated with sculptures interesting. If you walk from the main square towards Old Opera and Gvezdoslav Square, you can see the popular tourist sculpture “man behind work,” though for some reason MashaPasha passed by and didn’t notice her, she’s not very big.
Franciscan monastery in Bratislava. Located next to Primas Square
After walking around the Old Town, you can continue your further acquaintance with Bratislava at Gvezdoslav Square.
