Castle Hill

About this place

Castle Hill in Nitra carries a castle that dominates the city, a national cultural monument and seat of the Diocese of Nitra. It does not look like a pure castle, as its core is Saint Emmeram's Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace within walls and a fortress gate, among the most important historic sites in west Slovakia. The first fortified centre on the hill dates from the Bronze Age, about 1600 BC, and Celts settled here in the first century BC. Slavs lived here permanently from around 800 and built a massive rampart of stone, timber and earth. The present castle dates from the eleventh century, and its oldest surviving part is the Romanesque Church of Saint Emmeram from that time. You enter over a stone bridge through a gate in a high wall, with the cathedral tower and its dark cupola above. Inside are quiet courts and gardens and the Bishop's Palace, which took its Baroque form in the eighteenth century, with carved statues and urns on the stairs. From above you see the city's roofs and the fortifications, most from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The castle is 75 km in a straight line east of Bratislava, directly above the old town. The cathedral is a place of worship, so dress modestly, keep quiet and do not walk around during services. The climb is short but a little steep. Ask about times for the cathedral tower and exhibitions, as we found no confirmed hours.