Architecture of Slovakia
The architecture of Slovakia has a long, rich and diverse history. Besides Roman ruins (as in the military camp of Gerulata), Slovakia hosts several Romanesque and Gothic castles and churches, most notably Spiš Castle, which were built at the time of the Kingdom of Hungary. Renaissance architecture was of particular relevance in town hall squares, such as in Bardejov and Levoča. Affluent architecture in the following centuries made use of Baroque, Rococo and historicist styles (neo-classical, neo-Renaissance and neo-Gothic), while vernacular architecture in the countryside developed a specific style of wooden houses and wooden  churches. In the 20th century, Slovakia knew Art Nouveau and modernist architecture, including socialist modernism, and finally contemporary architecture. Prehistory and Antiquity. Gerulata was a Roman military camp located near today's Rusovce, a borough of Bratislava, Slovakia. It was part of the Roman province of Pannonia and was built in the 2nd century as a part of the frontier defence system. It was abandoned in the 4th century, when Roman legions withdrew from Pannonia. Beyond the remains of the Roman forum, fragments of structures and gravestones, bronze, iron, ceramic and stone pieces are on show in a museum showing  daily life. The best preserved object is a quadrilateral building 30 metres long and 30 metres wide, with 2.4 metre thick walls. Romanesque architecture. Castles from the High Middle Ages still dot the hilltops of Slovakia. The most outstanding is Spiš Castle, in eastern Slovakia, dating from 1209. Among the oldest churches in Slovakia are: Only a handful of Romanesque buildings have been preserved in Slovakia, but these include at least three church monuments of high standing, included in the TransRomanica network: Gothic architecture. Castles from the High Middle Ages still dot the hilltops of Slovakia. The most outstanding is  Spiš Castle, in eastern Slovakia, dating from 1209. Other castles, listed in the National Cultural Heritage list of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, include: Slovakia features several examples of ecclesiastic Gothic. These include: Renaissance architecture. Old Slovak town squares used to feature Gothic burgher houses, most of which were remade with Italian-style Renaissance façades in the 16th century, covered with sgraffito decorations. Among them is the town square of Bardejov, a Unesco centre, as well as Levoča. Folk and vernacular styles. Folk and vernacular architecture from Slovak villages remains preserved in several instances. This architectural style typically  features wooden structures, sometimes plastered, dating back to the 18th century. Eastern Slovakia is particularly renowned for its wooden churches, often built without nails, dating from the 18th till the 20th century and mainly belonging to Greek Catholic and Orthodox confessions, particularly of the Rusyn minority. They can be found in the area of Bardejov and Snina. Baroque and Rococo architecture. Wealthy aristocrats and merchants in present-day Slovakia from the 1600s used to appreciate Vienna-style baroque; the University church of St John the Baptist in Trnava is one of the early examples. Flowery rococo followed the influence of  Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary in the 18th century, with swags and plaster decorations in Old Town Bratislava. Examples include Grassalkovich Palace, built in 1760 (today's residence of the President of Slovakia), as well as the Episcopal Summer Palace (reconstructed in 1761–1765) and the Mirbach Palace, from 1768 to 1770. Historicist styles. Several palaces and churches were built in historicist styles in the 18th and 19th centuries. Examples of neoclassical architecture include Bratislava's Primate's Palace, by Melchior Hefele, 1778–81, and the Evangelical Church of Košice by Georg Kitzling, 1816. The East Slovak Museum in Košice, 1872, is  an illustration of Neo-Renaissance architecture. Gothic Revival was used as a style for castles, such as Orava Castle and Bojnice Castle, as well as for the Church of Holy Trinity, Mošovce, rebuilt 1912–13. Art Nouveau and Secession style. Art Nouveau architecture took hold in present-day Slovakia by the turn of the 20th century. The fancy Blue Church design by Ödön Lechner in 1905 in Hungarian Art Nouveau is a feat. Lechner also designed the Gamča gymnasium in Bratislava, built in 1906–08, while Dušan Jurkovič built the Skalica Culture House. In Košice, the Hotel Slávia features as Art Nouveau  mosaic façade. Modernist architecture. In the interwar period, Bratislava was a site for several modernist architectural styles: Socialist modernism also left a couple of hallmarks in Bratislava, including the Slovak Radio Building and the Most SNP: Contemporary architecture. Following Slovakia's independence in 1992, in the economic and democratic transition and in the run-up and after Slovakia's accession to the European Union in 2004, several modern administrative and business buildings in the style of contemporary architecture were built, in particular in the capital Bratislava: