THE POPULAR statue of the Napoleonic soldier is back in the Main Square of the capital after it was damaged in early May by unknown vandals. The statue, which has become a popular photo-op for tourists, was taken to the nearby Zichy Palace over the summer for repairs.
“The statue itself was not damaged,” the mayor of the Old Town borough of Bratislava, Tatiana Rosová, informed. “But we had to repair the bench which it leans on and we also attached the statue in a way that it can resist any potential attack by vandals. We conducted all the work ourselves, and the material expenses were €20. If we ordered an external company to do this for us, it would have cost the Old Town self-administration about €2,500,” she explained.
She also mentioned other popular Old Town attractions that were damaged in the past year: “kilometrovník”, the brass compass embedded in the walkway beneath the arch of Michael’s gate, was stolen in December and replaced in March; in July, “Čumil” the statue of the worker peaking out of the sewer on Laurinská Street, was also damaged. The borough oversaw the repair of both statues.
