Nitra

Nitra is a tiny town according to all European standards (its population is 88 thousand people) and it’s a large one according to Slovakia standards. It’s an administrative center of one of the eight Slovak regions. The town is famous for being a capital of Great Moravia in the 9-th century which was the first Slovak state. Except for that Nitra is a cradle of Christianity in Slovakia. The first Slovak temple was built right here.

The town is divided into a High and a Low one. The heart of a High town is a castle in Nitra which was founded by Moravian kings in the 11-th century. During six hundred years it was considered to be unassailable it surrendered only in 1663 to the troops of the Ottoman Empire. The castle in Nitra was lucky enough because the biggest part of its fortifying and architectural elements has been preserved till our days. Nowadays it’s a center of spiritual life in Slovakia. There is a cathedral and a palace-residence of episcope in Nitra.

A low town is attractive primarily by the buildings of the 18-th – 19-th centuries: a church and an abbey are in the style of baroque (18-th cent.), a building of a former town administration (the 18-th cent.) where there is an Art Gallery, the theater of Bagara and a castle of St. Stephan (the 12-th cent.).

There are some interesting places in the neighborhood with Nitra. First it’s a mountain Zobor which is 588 meters long where there is a church to St. Michael of the 12-th century which was built on the place of an ancient Slavonic settlement (a nice view on some wine-making suburbs is opened from there. Secondly a castle in the village Topolchanka is one of the most beautiful castles in Slovakia. It is built in the style of Renaissance and once it was a summer residence of an Austrian imperial family. And thirdly there is a cozy town Komarno in the south of the region with a construction in the middle which can remind you of nothing.

Nitra is popular among business tourists. Different exhibitions are regularly organized here. The town has a status of an important agricultural region of Slovakia that is why it’s quiet natural that a central agricultural exhibition of the country is organized here. It’s name is Agro complex. The best hotels in Nitra are to the tourists’ service. They are “A Golden Key” ****, “The Capital” ****, « The Сity» ***.