Dr. Stefan - Trnava and Nitra

Bratislava • Jurský Šúr ( A nature preserve since 1959, depressive swamps on the Podunajská nížina lowlands with original alder forest and some of steppe's trees. ) • Svätý Jur ( An old town with big vineyards, the smallest of the "Západoslovenská pentapolitana" towns ( Modra, Pezinok, Svätý Jur, Bratislava and Trnava ). In 1647 it became a free royal town , the people had to give 22,000 litres of a good wine to the king each year. ) • Pezinok ( Well known for its wines, in the 14-th century gold was washed in the small river Limbašský potok here. In 1647 it also became a free royal town. In the 18-th century the gold mining stoped, but after the discovery of ores mining started again in the area of Cajla. ) • Modra ( This town developed since the 12-th century. Viticulture was the main part of its economy. In 1607 it became a free royal town with many German settlers. Its traditional pottery ( modranská keramika ) has been developing since the 17-th century. There are well preserved parts of the town's fortifications from 1610 - 1646 ( one part of a wall, an entrance gate with the town's coat-of -arms) and one bastion with a shooting place. ) • Budmerice ( There is a manor house built in 1889 in the Romantic pseudostyle with towers and dormer windows. There is an English park near the manor house. ) • Ružindol • Trnava ( A provincial, cultural and industrial centre, one of the oldest towns in Slovakia which as the first one gained the privileges of a free royal town in 1238. Since 1542 the archbishop's palace has been here. Trnava is often called the Slovak Rome because of many churches and monasteries. In 1635 Jesuit's University of four faculties was founded here. After moving the University to Budín and moving the Archbishop's Palace to Ostrihom in 1820 the importance of Trnava lowered. ) • Špačince • Jaslovské Bohunice ( One of the two working nuclear power stations in Slovakia. ) • Trakovice • Leopoldov ( An important railway junction, here the railway line bifurcates from Žilina to different directions - Trnava, Galanta and Lužianky. ) • Hlohovec ( It was called Frašták till 1920. The town was built in the 12-th century under a castle. A Renaissance - baroque castle, built in 1720 on the place of a medieval one is one of important sights here. There is a well known observatoty in the town. ) • Kľačany • Zbehy • Čakajovce • Drážovce ( A very important Slavonic burial ground from the times of The Great Moravian Empire and a row's burial place from the 11-th - 13-th century. The most important sight is St. Michael's Church on the edge of a mountain foothill above the village. ) • Nitra ( A provincial town, the centre of Ponitrie ( an area around Nitra ), the centre of universities, research and exhibitions in Slovakia. The first settlements in the 6-th or the 7-th century. The town Nitra mentioned in 826, makes Nitra the oldest town of the Czech and the Slovak Republic. The prince Mojmír turned the prince Pribina out and the Nitra's principate was joined to that one of Morava. The war events in the 15-th - the 17-th century influenced the buildings in the town, all the battles marked the town in some way. At the beginning of the 19-th century the architecture of the town was influenced by the Empire and the Classicism. A lot of Slovak nationalists worked here. The northern part of the town and the castle became the town's culture preserve in 1987. ) • Jelenec ( The village/town was called Gýmeš before. The existence of this village was closely related with the Gýmeš castle which was built by Ivan's son Ondrej in the middle of the 13-th century. ) • Kostoľany pod Tríbečom ( There is St. George's Church in the south part of the Lysec hill, above the the village, the oldest preserved monument in Slovakia. The church is a typical sacral building, built in a style typical for western Europe in the 9-th - the 10-th century. There are nice wall paintings found under several layers of a newer plaster. ) • Beladnice ( First mentioned in 1156, it belonged to the castle's estate Tekov, later to that one of Gýmeš. The original Baroque manor house from the end of the 18-th century, rebuilt in 1810 and 1874. There is a park with a rare big poplars and limes here. ) • Tesárske Mlyňany • Arborétum Mlyňany ( The largest and the oldest forest park in Slovakia with rare exotic trees from different parts of the world. ) • Slepčany • Nová Ves nad Žitavou • Vráble ( First mentioned in the letters in 1265. It belonged to Ostrihom's archdiocese, from 1424 Predialists had their home here. The fortifications were built in the period of Turkish wars. A Neo-Roman church with a tower which bends 150cm from its axis is one of the most interesting sights. ) • Veľký Lapáš • Nitra