Continued from Bratislava, part 1: Getting There
With the castle visible before me, my Slovakian adventure was taking shape.
As with many castles, The Bratislava Castle (Hrad Bratislava in Slovakian) is situated on top of a large hill. This gives the castle an extra layer of defense along with its high walls. Unfortunately for me, it wasn't immediately apparent on my map what road would actually take me up the hill and bring me to a gate through the castle walls. I found a likely road on the other side of the old city and after a few turns on those windy non-Cartesian cobblestone streets, I was a bit lost.
Thankfully the old city is very small so I just kept walking south (or as southwardly as possible) until I emerged and was able to find my planned route up the hill.
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| Go this-a-way. |
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| Climbing the hill to Sigismund Gate. |
After a steep climb, I passed through the Sigismund Gate (at the top left corner of the schematic in the next photo) and entered the castle grounds. The Bratislava Castle was built in the late stone age and was the seat of the Hungarian emperor for a time.
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| The castle map, before (left) and after (right) restoration. |
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| Leftover construction materials. |
The exterior of the castle looks immaculate after a recent restoration. Unfortunately the inside of the castle is still being restored, so public access to the magnificent rooms and the museum within was restricted.
Aside from seeing the castle itself, the best thing about having climbed this hill was the views of the city of Bratislava and the Danube river.
Later that day I hiked to the castle again and took some awesome night photographs of the castle and the river.
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