How do you know you are in Bratislava? - Dominants of Bratislava

A big upside down table on the hill above the Danube River is the oldest dominant of the city. It is the Bratislava castle, a comparison with the upside down table is very popular and it is connected with an old story about a giant wizard who used to sit on the “castle – table”.

Another historical dominant is nearby – the Dome of St. Martin.

But there are some other, newer dominants.

There is a nice view of the city from all dominants. Visiting of some dominants is a part of a regular Bratislava sightseeing.

Slavin – A Giant Memorial to the Soviet Army

The statue of Victory on the memorial Slavin by Alexander Trizuljak stands on a 28 m high pylon, measuring 11 m (together with the pedestal 12.6 m), while the height of the whole monument from the basic plateau is 52 meters. Chest of the soldier is 1.80 m wide, his submachine gun is 2.50 m long and the stretch of his hands is about 5 m. The statue is of bronze, weighing 14.5 tones. Slavin is a cemetery and the memorial to the Soviet Army and it was ceremonially unveiled on the 4th of April 1960. As many as 6,845 soldiers are buried in an adjacent cemetery. Step-like terraces offer a view of the Old City.

New Bridge with a UFO Spaceship

Constructed within 1967 - 1972 over the Danube River, it acquired appreciation of Construction of the 20th century. Authors of the design, J. Lacko a A. Tesar designed it as a steel bridge suspended on a single pylon. At the top of the pylon, in the height of 80 m, there is a restaurant connected with the bridge itself via an inclined high-speed lift in one of arms of the pylon as well as via emergency staircase with 430 steps in the other arm. The restaurant looks like a UFO spaceship, especially in the night.There is an outlook terrace ten meters about the restaurant. The bridge is 431.8 m long and 21 m broad of two levels. Total mass of steel structure, including the pylon, is 7,537 tones. Bratislava has 5 bridges over the Danube River.

Pyramid of Bratislava – A House of the Slovak Radio

In 1969 – 1984, the building of Slovak Radio was constructed according to original design by Ing. arch. S. Durkovic, Ing. arch. B. Kisling and Ing. arch. S. Svetko. Core of the building is a pylon of reinforced concrete, around which a steel structure is winding, creating a shape of pyramid upside down. Structural height of the building is 61 meters.

Skyscraper of the National Bank of the Slovak Republic

The new building of the National Bank of the Slovak republic stands just in opposite of the Pyramid of Bratislava (the building of the Slovak public radio broadcasting). This skyscraper was open on the 23rd May of 2002 and has 33 floors. Height of the building is 111 meters.

TV Tower on the Kamzik Hill – Just Like a Wine Bottle

TV tower stands on the Kamzik Hill (439 meters over the sea). There is a revolving restaurant and cafe at the TV tower, which is 194 meters height. The tower was completed in 1975 and its shape is like a wine bottle. That is a symbol of traditional viticulture in Bratislava and surroundings.

The Apollo Bridge is the newest Dominant of Bratislava

The fifth bridge over the River Danube is the newest dominant of Bratislava. The Apollo Bridge is becoming an attraction within the City’s sky-line with its design, colour solution, materials used and fancy illumination in darkness. The overall length of the bridge structure, including flyovers, is 854 m and its width is 32 m. The total length of a newly built road, starting from the point of its access to Dolnozemska Street, through the bridge, up to the Intersection Mlynske Nivy – Prievozska Street – Kosicka, is 1,853 km. The bridge is named after the historic name of a local oil rafinery.

This page is a part of Bratislava Online Guide.