5 sites in Bratislava that pilgrims shouldn’t skip

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This article was published in the latest edition of our Bratislava City Guide, which can be obtained from our online shop with Spectacular Slovakia travel guides.

For some contemporary visitors, Bratislava is merely Party-Slava, home of nightclubs and bars. But that view of the city is only a modern one: for hundreds of years the dominant presence here has been religion, and Bratislava remains a wonderful place in which to sit in the cool shadows of ancient walls and statues of saints, or to contemplate in silence while bask­ing in the sunlight reflected through the majestic coloured windows of its spectacular places of worship.

Lost in Bratislava? Impossible with this City Guide! (source: Spectacular Slovakia)

Since as long as records go back, Bratislava has been the destination for pil­grims who have come to engage with the city’s rich spiritual history. There are five sites in Bratislava that are of particular relevance and to which pilgrims continue to come to pay homage.

JOHN THE ALMONER

One of the first places most tourists will visit in Bratislava is St Martin’s Cathedral, one of the greatest monuments of the city and significant as the coronation church of the Hungar­ian Kingdom. It is also a specific pilgrimage destination. In the Chapel of St John the Almoner (Kaplnka sv. Jána Almužníka) on the left side of the church, are the mortal remains of John the Merciful.

Bratislava: Religion services and pilgrimage sites (8 photos)

John was the patriarch of Alexandria, born in Cyprus in the seventh century. His body took a circuitous route to Slovakia, via Istanbul (which was then Constantinople) and Venice, before arriving in Slovakia, probably in the mid 16th century. His remains are now stored in a glazed silver shrine above the altar in the chapel that bears his name.

CHATAM SOFER

Bratislava has also always been an important centre of Jewish culture, despite suffering long periods of persecution com­mon across Europe, as well as a series of construction projects that have devastated former Jewish neighbour­hoods. Nevertheless, one crucial site in the city has remained intact and is now visited by Jews from across the world.

The old Jewish cem­etery, at the bottom of the castle hill, dates from the 17th century and at one time contained around 6,000 graves. Much of it was destroyed in 1942-43 when a tram tunnel was built under the castle, exiting through the cemetery. Latterly, the rest of the former Jewish quarter was razed during construction of the SNP Bridge in 1969.

However, one of the tombs that was saved and is now preserved in a tiny underground room is the final resting place of Chatam Sofer, the orthodox scholar born Moshe Schreiber in 1762 and who died in 1839. Sofer became Chief Rabbi of Pressburg in 1806 and also headed the yeshiva (rabbinical school) in the city. He was a strictly Orthodox rabbi. Somehow his tomb was saved despite the massive societal upheavals and the scarring of the landscape. Most visitors now come in September, on the anniversary of his death, to pay their respects.

“This town was always tolerant,” said Viera Kamenická, from the Museum of Jewish Culture in Bratislava, part of the Slovak National Museum.

CALVARY

There was once also a Calvary in the hills of Bratislava, close to the Church of Our Lady of the Snows. But 13 of its 14 stops were destroyed during the previous regime, as well as the tower of the church, leaving only the peace­ful Lourdes cave. It contains a statue of the Virgin Mary, surrounded by hundreds of marble plaques offering thanks. Although plans for redevelop­ment of the whole Calvary are often discussed, priorities tend to be with the reconstruction of existing monu­ments rather than building from new, and there are no fixed dates for the construction.

REPRESSIONS

The cruelties of the communist regime are evidenced in the story of the first beatified woman in Slovakia. Sister Zdenka, civilian name Cecilia Scheling, assisted in 1952 several Catholic priests escaping from former Czechoslovakia. The communist secret police imprisoned and tortured her on the grounds of treason. She was released in 1955 but died just months later. Pope John Paul II beati­fied Sister Zdenka as a martyr during a 2003 visit to Slovakia.

“There were worshippers from the Philippines and Vietnam who were curious about her,” said Mária Terézia, a nun from the congregation of the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross.

The mortal remains of Sister Zdenka are placed in the Church of Holy Cross in the east­ern part of Bratislava, where pilgrims go to pray.

Another blessed martyr from the communist era is the Slovak Salesian priest Titus Zeman. His mortal remains are placed in the Church of our Lady of Seven Sorrows in the north part of the city.

MARIAN VALLEY

Another of the most visited and most important pilgrimage sites in Slovakia is the Marian Valley and the village of Marianka, the oldest Catholic pilgrimage destination in Slovakia and one of the oldest in the whole of central Europe. As the name suggests, the whole area is devoted to the Virgin Mary and includes numerous holy sites, drawing pilgrims from across the region for several centuries.

The most significant sites are the Pilgrimage Church of the Nativity of Virgin Mary (Kostol Narodenia Panny Márie), a shrine to the Virgin Mary that has come to be known as the Lourdes cave, the Chapel of the Holy Well, and the Way of the Cross, which has 14 stopping points.

Many legends have grown up concerning the healing powers of a visit to the area, and to be gained from praying to a statue of the Virgin Mary believed to date from 1030. In 2011, the Marian Valley also gained the privileges of a basilica minor, which means visitors can obtain indulgence here. The Marian Valley is visited by 200–300 pilgrims on the first Saturday of every month, increasing to 500– 1,000 during good weather. Regardless of the conditions, the Feast of the Holy Trinity, in spring (May or June), and the Feast of Nativity of Our Lady, in September, usually attract 5,000–6,000 pilgrims annually.

Author: Bratislava City Guide