The Episcopal Summer Palace (, ) is the former residence of the

Archbishop of Esztergom In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

. The palace was originally in the 17th century a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

summer seat for the

archbishops of Esztergom In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

(since Esztergom had been occupied by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1543, the archbishops were based in Trnava). The baroque sculptor Georg Rafael Donner had a studio in the palace garden for almost 10 years. The palace now houses the government of Slovakia.

History

When the Turks started invading

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Hungarian nobility The Kingdom of Hungary held a Nobility, noble class of individuals, most of whom owned landed property, from the 11th century until the mid-20th century. Initially, a diverse body of people were described as noblemen, but from the lat ...

started fleeing into the northern parts of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

(present-day

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 ...

). After the Turks captured

Buda Buda (, ) is the part of Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, that lies on the western bank of the Danube. Historically, “Buda” referred only to the royal walled city on Castle Hill (), which was constructed by Béla IV between 1247 and ...

in 1541, Pozsony () (since 1918

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. ...

) became the capital city of Hungary. After the city of

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

was captured, the seat of the Esztergom

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

(highest ranking Hungarian church official at that time) had to be moved. At first, he lived in the building of his predecessors at the place of today's Primate's Palace in the city center. The old gothic residence, however, despite its many reconstructions failed to provide the comfort the archbishop was accustomed to. In spite of Hungary being decimated by the Turks, the nobility started to emulate the foreign custom of building summer palaces in the countryside. The land for the Summer Archbishop's Palace, just behind the second ring of city defences, was at that time considered to be countryside. It was acquired at the beginning of the 17th century by archbishop Ferenc Forgách (who was archbishop from 1607 to 1615) and a garden was established there. The archbishop's summer residence was built probably in 1614. Archbishop György Lippay (who was archbishop from 1642 to 1666) had the garden converted into a renaissance garden by filling it with exotic plants and trees,

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

s that used water taken from the mountain springs, artificial caves and a big water pool where horses used to bathe. The garden's masterpiece was a garden pavillon with walls encased in mosaic and streams of water flowing through a musical instrument similar to an

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

. Neither the garden or the pavillon survived this period of time. Lippay also had a new residence built sometime during his tenure as archbishop. Archbishop Imre Esterházy (who was archbishop from 1725 to 1751) had the garden reconfigured in a

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style. It was under archbishop Ferenc Barkóczy (who was archbishop from 1761 to 1776) that the current version of the palace was built. Between 1761 and 1765, Barkóczy had Austrian architect F. A. Hillebrandt convert the old Lippay building into a large

palace. Also,

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style decorations, a Rococo fence and a yard of honour were added. In the 19th century, the seat of Esztergom archbishops was moved back to

and the Hungarian capital was moved to

. After the

Napoleonic wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

a strong garrison of king-emperor's army remained in the city. Summer Archbishop's Palace was converted into a military hospital and its garden was used as a military exercising ground. Statues from the garden were sold and an outside staircase leading from the garden directly to a hall on the first floor was demolished. The hall was split into two rooms full of beds for wounded soldiers. The palace remained a military hospital until the 1930s. After the breakup of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

the newly created

Slovak State Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arkan ...

was in need of administrative and office buildings in the capital city to house the government and ministries. Summer Archbishop's Palace was chosen to house the Ministry of foreign affairs and a whole government district was supposed to be constructed in the vicinity, this plan however did not materialise. A project by Slovak

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Emil Belluš from 1940 to 1941 was implemented by removing all buildings from the garden and adding the two wings of the palace, creating the building we see today. Belluš probably secured the deal with his previous work on the nearby Grassalkovich Palace. The palace building was reconstructed for the purposes of the Ministry of foreign affairs. It served as that ministry's seat in the 1940s. Also the interior of the Summer Archbishop's Palace was reconfigured somewhat during this reconstruction. As of today, most of the statues were lost; the St. John statue now stands in the courtyard of the Primate's Palace, and the statues of atlants are in the town of

Kittsee Kittsee (; , , ) is an Austrian municipality in the District of Neusiedl am See (district), Neusiedl am See, Burgenland. History In the Middle Ages, the settlement was situated in the Kingdom of Hungary, and was probably settled by Pecheneg ...

. In the palace interior only two original pieces remain - a

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

on the ceiling of the palace's 18th century chapel and an

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

. Today, the restored palace with its

English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...

houses the government of

Gardens

Summer Archbishop's Palace and its garden are inaccessible to the public, except for a few hours during one day each year as part of a Doors Open Days program. Access on this day is guided, not everything is accessible and the place gets crowded. Slovak politicians and mainstream media frequent the place year-round, especially almost every Wednesday, when Slovak government usually convenes.

Access

In 2009 the palace was open for 5 hours and the guided public tour included: * Mirror hall (''Zrkadlová sála'') * Yellow room (''Žltý salónik'') * Green room (''Zelený salónik'') * Pink room (''Ružový salónik'') * Conference room of the Vice Prime minister of the Slovak Republic * Chapel of the government office

References

External links

History of the palace at the Slovak Government website
{{coord, 48, 09, 09, N, 17, 06, 34, E, display=title, region:SK-BL_type:landmark_source:dewiki Buildings and structures in Bratislava Episcopal palaces Palaces in Bratislava Rococo architecture in Slovakia 18th-century architecture in Slovakia Houses completed in 1765 1765 establishments in Europe Baroque palaces in Slovakia

History

Gardens

Access

See also

References

Further reading

External links