St Martin's Cathedral – Bratislava (Pozsony)

St Martin's Cathedral – Bratislava (Pozsony)

St Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava (Pozsony) is one of the most important churches in Hungarian history: between 1563 and 1830 eleven Hungarian kings and eight queens were crowned here. Since 2008 it has been the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Bratislava.

Construction of the new Gothic church began in 1311 on the site of an earlier church and its adjacent cemetery, and it was consecrated in 1452. The cathedral stands in the Old Town of Bratislava, right below the castle.

The first coronation took place on 8 September 1563, when Maximilian was crowned King of Hungary, and the last on 28 September 1830, the coronation of Ferdinand V. Maria Theresa was also crowned here, on 25 June 1741. The coronations are commemorated by a 164-centimetre, 150-kilogram replica of the Holy Crown on top of the 85-metre tower.

Among the church's Baroque treasures, the Chapel of St John the Almoner, designed by Georg Raphael Donner, stands out. Donner also created the church's lead statue of Saint Martin.

Pilgrimage feast: On the feast of Saint Martin of Tours, patron of the cathedral and the archdiocese, 11 November.

Visiting: The cathedral can be visited outside Mass times (Rudnayovo námestie 1). It is easy to reach on foot from the Old Town, walking towards the castle.

Sources: Wikipedia · Wikipedia (English) · Archdiocese of Bratislava – pastoral letter

Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0