Modra (, ,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: ''Modur'') is a city and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Bratislava Region The Bratislava Region (, ; (until 1919); ) is one of the Regions of Slovakia, administrative regions of Slovakia. Its capital is Bratislava. The region was first established in 1923 and its present borders exist from 1996. It is the smallest of ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. It has a population of 9,201 as of 2013. It nestles in the foothills of the Malé Karpaty (Little Carpathian mountains) and is an excellent centre for hiking. Modra is famous for its pottery industry. Its blue-and-white porcelain is famous throughout Slovakia. It is also known as one of the most important

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

centres in the Little Carpathians region. Besides the main town, there are also other adjacent settlements incorporated in the municipality: former vassalage viticulture village Kráľová and two recreational hamlets of Harmónia and Piesok (also known as Zochova Chata), both located in the woods of Little Carpathians mountains.

Etymology

Most experts agree that the name is connected to (blue). The name probably originates from another historic geographic name in the neighbourhood, e.g, Modrá hora (Blue Mountain). According to a less probable hypothesis, the name comes from (a bird).

History

The first traces of habitation go back to the 3rd millennium BCE, and the first permanent habitation dates back to the time of

Great Moravia Great Moravia (; , ''Meghálī Moravía''; ; ; , ), or simply Moravia, was the first major state that was predominantly West Slavic to emerge in the area of Central Europe, possibly including territories which are today part of the Czech Repub ...

, when the Slavs lived there. The first mention of Modra was in 1158 in a document of the

Géza II of Hungary Géza II (; ; ; 113031 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Serbia. When his father died, Géza was still a child and he started ruling under the guardia ...

, when it belonged to the bishop of

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

. After the Mongol invasion of 1241, the settlement was reconstructed by the German colonists. The first mention of vineyards goes back to 1321. The settlement received its town privileges in 1361 and became a

free royal town A royal free city, or free royal city (Latin: ''libera regia civitas''), was the official term for the most important cities in the Kingdom of Hungary from the late 12th centuryBácskai Vera – Nagy Lajos: Piackörzetek, piacközpontok és város ...

in 1607. The town fortifications with three gates were constructed in 1610–1647. Since the 17th century, it has been one of the leading craft centers in present-day Slovakia. The ceramic industry and

majolica In different periods of time and in different countries, the term ''majolica'' has been used for two distinct types of pottery. Firstly, from the mid-15th century onwards, ''maiolica'' was a type of pottery reaching Italy from Spain, Majorca a ...

production started in the 19th century. In 1883, a school of ceramics was established, where through the skillfulness of

Habaners Hutterites (; ), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious group, ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptism, Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16 ...

, the so-called Slovak ceramics were created. The railway track from

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Trnava Trnava (, , ; , also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, to the northeast of Bratislava, on the Trnávka river. It is the capital of the Trnava Region and the Trnava District. It is the seat o ...

bypassed the town in the 1840s, as the local magistrate refused to allow the railway construction.

Landmarks

Modra Observatory The Astronomical Observatory of Modra (), also known as Modra Observatory or the Astronomical and Geophysical observatory in Modra, is an astronomical observatory located in Modra, Slovakia. It is owned and operated by the Comenius University in B ...

of the

Comenius University in Bratislava Comenius University 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. It is named after Jan Amos Comenius, a 17th-century ...

near Modra-Piesok *A grave memorial museum (with an external exhibition "Štúrova izba" (memorable room of Štúr) and statue of

Ľudovít Štúr Ľudovít Štúr (; 28 October 1815 – 12 January 1856), also known as Ľudovít Velislav Štúr, was a Slovak revolutionary, politician, and writer. As a leader of the Slovak nationalism, Slovak national revival in the 19th century and the c ...

, who died here in 1856 *Remains of the former fortifications: a bastion (with a gallery of Ignác Bizmayer, pottery master) and the "Upper Gate", the only one of three original town gates to be preserved *A country castle just behind the upper gate; seat of the vineyard school *A Renaissance building from the end of the 17th century *the present-day workshops specialising on the Modra ceramics *Churches: **Roman Catholic Church of St. Stephen the King from years 1873–1876 on the market square **Roman Catholic Church of St. John the Baptist from the 2nd half of the 14th century at the cemetery with the names of victims of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

**Evangelical church of

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession (), also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheranism, Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of th ...

("German church") from 1714, present-day form since 1834 **Evangelical church of Apostles Peter and Paul ("Slovak church") from 1715, present-day form since 1826, standing near the "German church" **small Baroque chapel of Mary Immaculate from 1740, standing in front of the evangelical churches **Chapel of St. Michael from 1873

Demographics

According to the 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, the town had 8,536 inhabitants. 97.4% of inhabitants were

Slovaks The Slovaks ( (historical Sloveni ), singular: ''Slovák'' (historical: ''Sloven'' ), feminine: ''Slovenka'' , plural: ''Slovenky'') are a West Slavic ethnic group and nation native to Slovakia who share a common ancestry, culture, history ...

, 1%

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

and 0.4%

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...

. Structure of religion: 53.7%

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 25.8%

Lutherans Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched the Reformation in 15 ...

, and 15% with no confession.

Modra in fiction

In 2010 the Canadian film director

Ingrid Veninger Ingrid Veninger (born August 21, 1968) is a Canadian actress, writer, director, producer, and film professor at York University. Veninger began her career in show business as a child actor in commercials and on television; as a teen, she was fea ...

made a film about returning to the town after many years in Canada, called

MODRA Modra (, , Latin: ''Modur'') is a city and municipality in the Bratislava Region in Slovakia. It has a population of 9,201 as of 2013. It nestles in the foothills of the Malé Karpaty (Little Carpathian mountains) and is an excellent centre for ...

, starring Alexander Gammal and her daughter Hallie Switzer.

Notable people

*Stefan Balaz, Architect *

Svetozar Miletić Svetozar Miletić ( sr-cyr, Светозар Милетић; 22 February 1826 – 4 February 1901) was a Serbian lawyer, journalist, author and politician who served as the mayor of Novi Sad between 1861 and 1862 and again from 1867 to 1868. ...

(1826-1901), Serbian advocate, Journalist, author and politician, studied here at the gymnasium * Martina Šimkovičová (born 1971), TV presenter and politician *

(1815-1856), Slovak writer and politician; lived his last years in Modra and died here * Ondrej Rigo (1955-2022), Slovak

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

Twin towns — sister cities

Modra is twinned with: *

Benátky nad Jizerou Benátky nad Jizerou (; ) is a town in Mladá Boleslav District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,900 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administr ...

, Czech Republic *

Hustopeče Hustopeče (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,400 inhabitants. It is known for fruit and wine growing. Etymology The name of the town is derived from the name of the nobleman and ...

, Czech Republic *

Overijse Overijse () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is a suburb of the wider Brussels metropolitan area. The municipality comprises the town of Overijse proper, and the communities of Eizer, Mal ...

, Belgium

References

*''Part or whole of the information is based on the corresponding article on the German Wikipedia''

External links

Official website

Astronomical observatory

MODRA: Toronto Film Festival

MODRA: Official site
{{authority control Cities and towns in Slovakia Villages and municipalities in Pezinok District Fortified settlements