Bratislava Castle is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.
The first traces of settlement on the Castle Hill stem from the transition period between the Stone and Bronze Age, called Aeneolthicum. The hill was then inhabited by people of a groove ornamental pottery period, known as Baden Culture.
Bratislava became the official coronation town for Hungarian Kings and the castle became the formal seat of the kings of Royal Hungary.
Bratislava Castle was first written reference to the city, which appears in the Annals of Salzburg of 907, in association with a battle between Bavarians and Hungarians.
After the Empress and her son Joseph II died, the castle was deserted and became a military garrison.
On June 6, 2010, the reconstruction of the Honorary Courtyard of Bratislava Castle was completed with a large nationally televised unveiling ceremony of an equestrian statue of King Svätopluk I by Slovak sculptor Ján Kulich.
The main Castle building includes 4 towers. The tallest and largest is the Crown Tower, on the southwest corner.
On 28 May 1811, a fire begun accidentally by garrisoned soldiers gutted the structure
In the 1930s plans were put forward to either rebuild the castle ruins into a new structure or to destroy it altogether.
The name of the castle is recorded on coins, issued by the first Hungarian king Stephan I (1000-1038) with engraving- Preskava Civ, which certainly means as much as Preslavov (Breslavov) Castle.
