Trnava (Nagyszombat) was granted town privileges in 1238, making it one of Slovakia’s oldest towns. In the 16th and 17th centuries, at the height of the Turkish threat, it was the seat of the Hungarian primate and the headquarters of the Church of Hungary. The town acquired numerous churches, convents and monasteries, becoming known as the “Slovak Rome”. The first university in Hungary was founded here in 1635. Highlights for visitors are its religious buildings and relaxed ambience.
68,300.
Kollárova.
Stanična.
Trojičné námestie 1.Tel: (033) 323 64 40.
Fax: (033) 551 10 22.
9am–5pm Mon–Fri; May–Sep: also 8am–noon Sat, 2–6pm Sun.
The historic town centre is enclosed within the old walls, which form an almost complete square. The main Holy Trinity Square is at its heart. Among the restored historic buildings in the Old Town are some modern structures erected in the post war years. The main shopping street is the pedestrianized Hlavná.
This spindle-shaped square (námestie sv. Mikulaša) by the old city walls was in the Middle Ages the focus of the town. At its centre is the 1731 Baroque column of St Joseph, surrounded by chapter buildings including the Archbishop’s Palace . The Palace was built by Pietro and Antonio Spazzi in 1562. During the 16th and 17th centuries, this imposing Renaissance edifice was the seat of the Hungarian primates whose residence in Esztergom had been appropriated by the Turks. The archbishops went back to Esztergom in 1820, but a Slovak archbishopric was re-established here in 1990.
St Joseph’s column in St Nicholas’s Square
The twin towers of the Cathedral of St Nicholas (sv. Mikuláša), with their distinctive bell-shape cupolas, are one of Trnava’s chief landmarks. The church was built in 1380–1421. Its outside walls are supported by mighty buttresses, particularly imposing in the presbytery. The towers – initially of unequal size – were given their present shape after a fire in 1676. They are still not identical; a close look will reveal that the southern one is slightly narrower. Inside, the main attraction is the octagonal chapel of the Virgin Mary added in 1741 to the left aisle of the church. It contains the miraculous picture of the Trnava Madonna, which is particularly revered in Slovakia. The richly gilded Renaissance-Baroque main altarpiece dates from 1639. Built into the side walls of the chapels are a number of interesting Renaissance and Baroque tombstones.
The Order of the Poor Clares settled in Trnava during the Middle Ages. This church (Nanebovzatia Panny Márie) was built for the nuns in the 13th century as an aisleless Romanesque structure. Following a 17th-century fire it was extended and remodelled in the Baroque style, which can be seen to this day. The original features of the interior include the early 18th-century high altar and three side altars.
8am–5pm Tue–Fri, 11am–5pm Sat, Sun.
One of the largest in West Slovakia, this interesting and varied museum (Západoslovenské múzeum) is housed in the 13th-century convent adjacent to the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. Following administrative restructuring of the empire’s institutions carried out during the reign of Joseph II, the building became a military hospital, and then a warehouse. In 1954 it became a new museum with the aim of continuing Trnava’s museum traditions.
The collections, on two floors of the building, are highly diverse and include archaeological finds, an exhibition of religious art, ethnography and natural history displays and a unique collection of bells.
10am–noon, 1–5pm Tue–Fri, 1–6pm Sat, Sun.
The imposing edifice of Byzantine-Moorish style was built in the 19th century to a design by Viennese architect Jakub Gartner. Now it houses a centre of modern art and the Museum of Jewish Culture; it is also used as an exhibition and concert hall. Standing in front of the synagogue is a black marble monument designed by Artur Szalatnai-Slatinský dedicated to the memory of Trnava’s Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
19th-century synagogue in Byzantine-Moorish style
9am–5pm Tue–Fri, 11am–5pm Sat, Sun.
The Music Museum occupies Dom hudby, which used to be the home of one of Trnava’s most famous citizens – the composer Mikulas Schneider Trnavský (1881–1958). It displays objects and mementos associated with the Slovak musician; it also serves as a concert venue.
The first monumental Baroque structure in Slovakia and one of the country’s largest religious buildings, the University Church (Univerzitný kostol sv. Jána Krstitela) was constructed in 1629–37. The building, intended as the church for the Jesuit-run university, was founded by Count Miklós Esterházy. The first mass was celebrated here by the Archbishop of Esztergom, Imrich Lósi. From 1777, when the university was moved to Buda, the church was used by war veterans; later on it became the local parish church. It has a richly ornamented Italianate interior.
May–Sep: 8am–noon, 2–5pm and 30 min before each mass.
7:30am daily; 9:30 and 11:30am Sun.
The town’s main square, Trojičné námestie, sports a lofty Municipal Tower dating from 1574, with a viewing gallery. Its cupola is crowned with a golden statue of Our Lady. There is also an 18th-century Plague Column. Close by is the 1831 Municipal Theatre (Trnavské divadlo), the oldest theatre building in Slovakia. Just north of the square, the Holy Trinity Church (now known in Slovak as Jesuitský kostol) was built in the early 18th century by the Trinitarian monks. It has been used by the Jesuits since 1853. To the west of the square is the single-towered Church of St Jacob (sv. Jakub), built in 1640 and given a Baroque remodelling in 1712.
Trnava’s oldest church (sv. Helena), at the southern end of Hlavná, dates from the 14th century. Adjoining its north façade is the original tower with Gothic windows; seen above the portal are statues of the saints.
