Primate's Palace

The Primate's Palace is a monumental neoclassical building standing in the center of Bratislava. Currently, it is the seat of the local eldership and the Gallery of the City of Bratislava. You can see beautifully decorated palace interiors and a collection of paintings and English tapestries. The building itself has a spreading facade with a column portico and tympanum above the central part.

The first episcopal palace in Bratislava was built in the fourteenth century. In the sixteenth century, the primate of Hungary moved here, whose headquarters in Esztergom was threatened by Turkish invasions. In 1778, the then primate József Batthyány decided that the current building was too small and outdated and ordered the construction of a new headquarters.

The architect Melchior Hefele created a monumental palace in a fashionable classicist style. The regular facade divided by pilasters is crowned with attic made of columns and a triangular tympanum. The Hungarian parliament met in the palace. Peace was also signed in 1805 between France and Austria lost in the war.