The annual commemorative Coronation Festivities, a re-enactment of the crowning of Hungarian kings and queens in Bratislava between 1563-1830, took place on September 6. This year, the festivities marked the 1618 coronation of Ferdinand II - one of key figures in the Thirty Years’ War.
Ferdinand was portrayed by popular stage and screen actor Maroš Kramár. He led the Coronation Procession from Bratislava Castle to the Old Town Main Square, where the coronation took place. It then moved on to Hviezdoslavovo Námestie (Hviezdoslav Square), where the Knights of the Order of the Golden Spur were sworn in. The ceremony continued on the right bank of the Danube with re-enactments of battles from the Thirty Years’ War.
Hviezdoslavovo Square was also the scene of a mock execution recalling the fate of 27 Czech noblemen on Staromestske Namesti (Old Town Square) in Prague in 1621. The day's events wrapped up in the late evening with a fireworks display.
The Old Town area of Bratislava became the site of coronations in the wake of the Battle of Mohacs in 1526, which enabled the Ottoman Empire to occupy large parts of Hungary. TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
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