Hviezdoslav Square

About this place

The elegant promenade between the old town and the river: Hviezdoslav Square is a long tree-lined rectangle that was once the city's moat, filled in during the nineteenth century and turned into a park — named for Slovakia's greatest poet, whose statue stands at its centre. At its eastern end is the Slovak National Theatre (1886) with its Neo-Renaissance front and the Ganymede fountain before it, and along its length run cafés, embassies and historic hotels — with a statue of Hans Christian Andersen, who visited and loved the city, and benches under the trees. This is where the city beats in the evening: street musicians, seasonal markets, summer festivals and a second Christmas market in December. From its western end the bridge and river are minutes away, from its eastern the Main Square.