The St Martin's Cathedral ( sk, Katedrála svätého Martina, hu, Szent Márton-dóm or , german: Kathedrale des Heiligen Martin) is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

Bratislava Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the 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 — approximately 140% of ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), 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 ...

, and the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

of the Catholic

Archdiocese of Bratislava The Archdiocese of Bratislava ( sk, Bratislavská arcidiecéza, la, Archidioecesis Bratislaviensis) is a Roman Catholic archdiocese in western Slovakia including Bratislava and the western Trnava regions. It has its seat in Bratislava. The cu ...

. It is situated at the western border of the historical city center below Bratislava Castle. It is the largest and one of the oldest churches in Bratislava, known especially for being the coronation church of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1563 and 1830. Together with the castle on the hill adjacent, and somewhat similar in its striking, but fairly stark Gothic lines and colouring, St Martin's spire dominates Old Town's skyline. The tower virtually formed a part of the town's fortifications, built as it was into the city's defensive walls. As with the castle, the surroundings of St Martin's are as memorable as the structure itself. In the cathedral's case, this includes the picturesque remains of outbuildings in a spacious staired courtyard, and a working seminary with robed students on a cobblestone side-street. A small but significant neighbour of the cathedral is a monument to the synagogue, which stood next door for centuries until the Communist government demolished it around 1970 to make room for a new

Nový Most Most SNP ("Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising"), commonly referred to as Most Slovenského národného povstania or the UFO Bridge, and named Nový most ("New Bridge") from 1993 to 2012, is a road bridge over the Danube in Bratislava, the ...

bridge. The cathedral contains the remains of Saint

John the Merciful John the Merciful ( gr, Ἰωάννης ὁ Ἐλεήμων, Iōannēs ho Eleēmōn), also known as St John the Almsgiver, John the Almoner, John V of Alexandria, John Eleymon, and Johannes Eleemon, was the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Alexandria in ...

who died in the early 7th century.

Structure, shape and characteristics

The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

of the structure consists of three aisles divided by two rows of eight columns. It has an overall floor area of with a maximum height of . The tower is high and at one time was part of the medieval city fortifications. The cathedral is constructed in the traditional

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (La ...

shape. Together with the castle on the hill adjacent, and somewhat similar in its striking but fairly stark Gothic lines and colouring, St Martin's 85 m spire dominates Old Town's skyline. As with the castle, the surroundings of St Martin's are as memorable as the structure itself. The cathedral sits amid picturesque remains of outbuildings in a spacious staired courtyard, and a working seminary with robed students on a cobblestoned side-street. The tower is capped by a replica of the Hungarian Crown resting on a gilded pillow. The altar is dominated by an equestrian statue group depicting St. Martin in a typical Hungarian hussar dress. The saint is dividing his cloak to give part to a beggar as protection from the cold.

Construction history

Long before the construction of the cathedral, the site had been the crossroads and contained the former centre of the town, a market and probably also a chapel. Worship services were held at Bratislava Castle, where the chapter and provost's office had their seat. As the visits became less bearable and the castle's safety was threatened, King Emeric of Hungary requested the

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

for permission to relocate the provost's office into forecastle, and The Pope assented in 1204. The church was relocated in 1221, and was originally built in Romanesque style and sanctified to the Holy Saviour. As the town grew into a city and received additional privileges in 1291, the sanctuary became insufficient for its needs. Construction of a new Gothic cathedral began in 1311 on the site of the earlier church and an adjacent cemetery. Construction continued until 1452 due to the difficulty of construction and lack of funding. For a period in the early fifteenth century, construction halted due to the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, Eur ...

. In 1452, the church was finally completed and consecrated, however, work continued until the sixteenth century. During this period, a new long presbytery and the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

chapels of Czech

Queen Sofia Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mo ...

and of

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

were added in the 15th century. Eighteenth century additions to the sanctuary include the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

Chapel of St. John the Merciful, and serves as a mausoleum. It was constructed at the price of 2000 pieces of gold at the expense of

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **'' Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...

Péter Pázmány and the famous

equestrian sculpture of St Martin was added in 1744. Both works were designed by

Georg Rafael Donner Georg Rafael Donner (24 May 1693 – 15 February 1741) was one of the most prolific Austrian sculptors of the 18th century. His style was baroque with some pseudo-ancient additions. He educated many German sculptors of his era, including hi ...

In 1760, the top of the Gothic tower was struck by

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average ...

and later replaced by a Baroque one, which was subsequently destroyed by fire in 1835 and reconstructed in 1847 (with some modifications), and topped by the crown of St Stephen ( see below) The church attained its present-day appearance during the period 1869 to 1877, when it was re-Gothicised after suffering damage by fire, war,

earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, fr ...

and other disasters.

Coronations

Mária Terézia koronázása a Szent Márton székesegyházban

The cathedral became the coronation church of the

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

s of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coronation of the Hungarian monarch, c ...

in 1563, succeeding the ''Virgin Mary Church'' in

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; german: Stuhlweißenburg ), known colloquially as Fehérvár ("white castle"), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the regional capital of Central Transdanubia, and the centre of Fej� ...

, after the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

conquered that city. On 8 September 1563, the Crown of St. Stephen was placed on the head of Maximilian II, son of

Emperor Ferdinand I Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog sabo ...

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

. In total, the coronations of 11 kings and queens plus 8 of their consorts occurred here between 1563 and 1830, including that of

Maria Theresa of Austria Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position '' suo jure'' (in her own right) ...

. List of crowned kings/queens and of their consorts, with dates in parentheses:

Crown of St Stephen

The tower is topped by a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

-plated replica of the Crown of St. Stephen. It was placed in 1847 following restoration of the damaged tower, to commemorate the cathedral's importance as a coronation church. It weighs , measures over in diameter, and rests on a gold-plated pillow and stands high. The pillow and crown contain a total of of gold and were restored in August 2010.

Catacombs, crypts and sepulchres

Since the cathedral was built over a

cemetery A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a bu ...

, it contains

catacombs Catacombs are man-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place is a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman Empire. Etymology and history The first place to be referred ...

of unknown length and

crypt A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...

s holding the sepulchres of many significant historical figures, up to below the church. To date, three crypts have been discovered: * ''Pálffy family crypt'' (krypta rodiny Pálffy) is located under the main altar (sanctuary) and is accessed from the exterior. Entrance to this crypt is at the northern side of the cathedral and is covered by a white marble slab bearing the coat of arms of the Pálffy family. Above is a funeral sculpture by Ján Draškovch from the year 1613, depicting a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in armour and a

sea shell A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...

. The Pálffy family was notable in Bratislava as they were the hereditary owners of the Bratislava Castle. * ''Jesuit crypt'' (Jezuitská krypta) is accessible from the ''St Anna Chapel'' and is located under the road between the cathedral and the adjacent

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy ...

. * ''Archbishop crypt'' (Arcibiskupská krypta) is accessible from the ''St Anna Chapel'' and is the only crypt open to the public. It branches into four hallways under the nave in the direction of Kapitulská Street and contains over 90 graves. Over the centuries, the cathedral's sepulchres filled with many significant figures, such as ecclesiastic dignitaries, presidents of the historic

Pozsony county Pozsony county was an administrative county ( comitatus) of the Kingdom of Hungary. Its territory is now mostly part of Slovakia, while a small area belongs to Hungary. In 1969, the three villages that remained in Hungary were combined to form Du ...

as well as Jozef Ignác Bajza, the author of the first Slovak

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

, but also with dozens of bishops, canons, French priests fleeing the

French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

and many people outside the Catholic Church.

Present

Today, the church is deteriorating due to vibrations caused by heavy traffic on the access ramp to the nearby Nový Most bridge. Restoration efforts began in 1997 and the cathedral has been a national cultural monument since 11 November 2002. Since 2003, it has hosted the ''Korunovačné slávnosti'' (Coronation Feasts) festival which re-enacts the coronation of one of the monarchs crowned in the cathedral. From 1995 to February 2008 it was the co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava.

Additional information

Video
an
Photo
of reconstruction of gold-plated representation of the Crown of St. Stephen (in Slovak).

Picture gallery

Catedral de San Martín, Bratislava, Eslovaquia, 2020-02-01, DD 46.jpg, View of the whole building Bratislava-Dom-sv-Martina.jpg, Front view of the cathedral Pozsonyi Sz Marton Dom-Donner szobor2.jpg, Statue of Saint Martin Bratislava10Slovakia43.JPG, Interior of the cathedral Catedral de San Martín, Bratislava, Eslovaquia, 2020-02-01, DD 75-77 HDR.jpg, High altar Bratislava - Konkatedrala sv. Martina - vitraz.jpg, Stained glass window Cathedral of St Martin, Bratislava - tower.JPG, Cathedral tower

References

External links

Dóm sv. Martina
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Martin's Cathdral, Bratislava Saint Martin Roman Catholic churches in Bratislava Gothic architecture in Slovakia Coronation church buildings 14th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Slovakia 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Slovakia Roman Catholic churches completed in 1452