Not only is Bratislava the largest city in Slovakia, it also serves as the state capital. Furthermore, Bratislava is the seat of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, the Government of the Slovak Republic, national ministries and the other central bodies of the state administration of the Slovak Republic. It is situated in thecentre of Europe in the southwestern part of Slovakia.
It borders with Hungary in the south and with Austria in the west. The town spreads like a fan on both banks of the Danube River, and at the foot of the Low Carpatians. Due to its position on the border between the mild and warm climatic zones, it ranks among the warmest spots in Slovakia with an average temperature of 9.9 C. It has 1 976.4 hours of sunshine a year and annual total rainfall is 527.4 mm. Bratislava is the most populous city in the Slovak Republic and its population is some 450 000.
A major industrial center, Bratislava is known for building VW cars and historically the manufacture of furniture, chemicals, tobacco products, musical instruments, woolen goods, and leather products. Historical points of interest include an 11th-century Gothic cathedral that was restored in the second half of the 19th century; a former royal palace of Hungary, on a hill overlooking the city; a 13th-century Franciscan church; the town hall, a 13th-century edifice; the Comenius University in Bratislava (1919); theSlovak Technical University in Bratislava (1938); and the Slovak Academy of Sciences (1953).
Founded before the 10th century, the city was known originally as Pressburg. Strong fortifications erected during the 12th century gave it strategic importance; from 1541 to 1784 it was the capital of Hungary. In 1805, during the Napoleonic War, the Peace of Bratislava was signed in the Primate's Palace following the defeat of the armies of Francis I, the Austrian emperor and Alexander I, the Russian tsar by Napoleon's army at Austerlitz (Slavkov). When Czechoslovakia was created in 1919 after World War I, the city was renamed Bratislava and made capital of the province of Slovakia.
credit:: Slovakia.org |
