Svaty Jur and its outskirts.

Svaty Jur (German: Sankt Georgen) is a suburb of , the capital of . The name means Saint George. Between 1960 and 1990, the Communist government forced the town to use a "non-religious" name Jur pri Bratislave. Svaty Jur has a population of more than 5,000.

The central square

A view of Svaty Jur

It's situated in the District of the in south-western Slovakia. The surrounding areas include large vineyards in the nearby and the unique Sur swamps, a protected area. History.

The archaeological excavations date the settlement back to the Hallstatt period and the Quadi period. In the 9th century, a Great Moravian castle was built there.

Primeval forest Sur.

Remains of a big slavonic fortification from the 9th Century, from the period of the Great Historical postcard with a view of town Moravian.

Svaty Jur was first mentioned in a written source in 1209 and received a town charter in 1299. It became a royal free town in the Kingdom of Hungary in 1647. Despite a construction of the city walls between 1603 and 1664, Svaty Jur was devastated by the Ottoman Turks in 1663. The Ottoman troops also destroyed the White Castle (Slovak: Biely Kamen), which had been an important administrative center of the region until then.

Landmarks.

The most remarkable historical monument is the Gothic church of St. George, built in the 13th century. The stone altar from 1527 is an example of a transition between the Gothic and Renaissance styles. The stained glass windows were designed by Janko Alexy in 1950. The wooden bell tower from the 17th century protects a bell from 1400.

Gothic church of St. George The wooden bell tower

A Great Moravian castle was built in the 9th century and it was abandoned in the 14th century. 1,693 metres of the walls have been preserved, but their height is now lower than the original 10 metres.

Other places of interest include a Renaissance manor house, a Baroque church of Trinity, a Piarist monastery from 1720, and the ruins of the city walls.

Ruins of Biely Kamen Castle.

The castle of Biely Kamen was mentioned for the first time in 1217. It was the seat of the counts of Svaty Jur until 1609, when they moved to a more comfortable manor house in the town. The castle was partially destroyed by an Ottoman raid in 1663. The ruins are still visible.

Ruins of the castle Biely Kamen (White Stone). Vineyard in the autumn Svaty Jur outskirts.

There are few interesting targets close to Svaty Jur. At first there are two castles and ruins of Celtic oppidum.

Smolenice Castle. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolenice_Castle

The Smolenice Castle (Slovak: Smolenicky zamok) is a castle in the eastern slope of the Little Carpathians, near the city of Smolenice.

Historical view of castle

The Smolenic castle

History. The Smolenice Castle was build up in the half of 15th century, but it was destroyed during the Rakoci's uprising and Napoleanic wars. In 1977 the count Jan Palffy from Pezinok inherited the entire Smolenice but did not reside in the castle due to its poor condition and lack of money for rebuilding it.

The tower The upper courtyard The castle was only rebuilt up in the 20th century, by order of the count Jozef Palffy. The architect Jozef Hubert projected the new castle by using the Kreuzenstein castle near Vienna as a model, and the works were controlled by the architect Pavol Reiter from Bavaria. During its construction there were masters from Italy, Germany, Austria and Hungary, and 60 workmen from Smolenice and nearby villages. The main building has two wings and a tower, and is made of ferroconcrete.

View from the tower to the courtyard Inside of the castle

The castle was damaged in the spring of 1945 during the World War II, and in that same year the state became the owner of it. Some reconstructions have been made after 1950, and since June 26th 1953 the castle is property of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The castle serves now as a conference centre, and it is only opened to the public in the months of July and August.

Ruins of Celltic oppidum Molpir Schema of Molpir

Cerveny Kamen Castle.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Č ervený_Kame ň _Castle Cerveny Kamen Castle (English: Red stone castle) is a castle in southwestern Slovakia, in the Little Carpathians, near the village of Casta,.This is a huge, well preserved castle situated on a hill above village Píla in Small Carpathians.

The Cerveny Kamen castle

History

In the place of today's castle was a stone castle in the 13th century and it was part of the chain of frontier The bailey of castle castles from Bratislava to Zilina for defense of western border of Hungarian Empire. This castle ceased to exist in the first half of the 16th century, when it was rebuilt to a fortress. At the beginning of 16th century it belonged to Thurzo family and from 1535 to Fuggers, well known and rich entrepreneurs, that belonged to one of the richest families in Europe magnates and financiers. Their richness came from their copper and other precious metals mines and from trading. Anton Fugger a builder of great name started to build a new castle on the foundations of the old gothic castle with huge storage warehousing areas in the basement and fortification system. As a medieval fortification, it is one of the best-preserved structures in Slovakia.

Outside view of castle

Shrine When the Pálffys acquired the castle in 1588, the fortress was completed and it also became a representative noble castle.

Bedroom

Murals

Although the castle was several times damaged by fire, it was always reconstructed by Pálffys, who were owners of the castle until the Second World War. Today, the castle serves as a furniture museum.