Apponyi Palace is a prominent monument in

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approxim ...

, Slovakia, adjacent to the

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

. Its address is Radničná 577/1.

History

The Apponyi Palace was built in 1761–1762 by

Count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

György Apponyi, a member of the ancient

Apponyi family The Apponyi, also Apponyi de Nagy-Appony, were a prominent and powerful Hungarian family group of the high upper nobility of the Kingdom of Hungary, whose's members remained notable even after the kingdom's dismemberment in the successor states o ...

and advisor to the

King of Hungary The King of Hungary ( hu, magyar király) was the ruling head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 (or 1001) to 1918. The style of title "Apostolic King of Hungary" (''Apostoli Magyar Király'') was endorsed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 ...

, in place of two older townhouses. It was acquired in 1867 from the Apponyis by the Bratislava municipality, which subsequently added its arms on the

cartouche In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...

above the street doorway. Two of its original four wings were demolished in 1910–1912 for the construction of a new municipal building. It was comprehensively renovated between 2003 and 2007.

Description

The ground floor was both residential and used for storage. The first floor is the representative ''

piano nobile The ''piano nobile'' (Italian for "noble floor" or "noble level", also sometimes referred to by the corresponding French term, ''bel étage'') is the principal floor of a palazzo. This floor contains the main reception and bedrooms of the hou ...

'' with preserved rococo-classical interior decorations. The second floor was used as private quarters by the

, with less high ceilings and less elaborate decorations. The

attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

was used for accommodation from the 18th century until the first half of the 19th century (it was common for visitors to coronations and other major events to sleep in the attics of townhouses and palaces of the noble). Today, the wooden booths for sleeping have been removed. The palace now houses two museums, the Museum of Viticulture in the basement, and the Period Rooms Museum upstairs. File: COA Bratislava-Apponyi palace.jpg, Municipal coat of arms above the entrance File: Aponiho palác table.jpg, Plaque on the street facade

References

Buildings and structures in Bratislava Apponyi family Baroque palaces in Slovakia {{Slovakia-struct-stub

History

Description

See also

References