Ancient Gerulata Museum in Rusovce was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List this year. (source: Courtesy of MMB)
Although the coronavirus pandemic dominated 2021 once again and affected events in Bratislava, the year was a notable one in many other ways for the Slovak capital.
“We had the national census this year and the visit of Pope Francis, in August, the Roman military camp Gerulata in Rusovce was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List,” Katarína Rajčanová, spokesperson of Bratislava, told The Slovak Spectator when asked to recall the most significant events for Bratislava this year.
The traditional Christmas markets in the capital were to be a noteworthy event at the end of the year, but they were cancelled as the pandemic worsened.
The city council also pointed to the creation of a new Department of Municipal Companies, which is able to provide a better idea of how municipal companies are doing, as a key development in the year.
Meanwhile, 2021 saw the adoption of strict regulation on advertising displays and the city’s housing policy 2020 – 2030. The latter addresses, among others, the issue of rental housing.
“We have reached a ground-breaking agreement with the state forest company Lesy SR to limit logging in state forests in Bratislava,” added Rajčanová. “We are intensively working on improving public spaces through the Živé Miesta (Living Places) programme and we are comprehensively revitalising the Sad Janka Kráľa park and reconstructing Michael’s Tower.”
New operations have also been carried out in the centre of the capital by the city’s police force, while a new night mayor for Bratislava, Martin Královič, has been appointed.
