One of the key sites to see when visiting the capital city of Bratislava in Slovakia is St. Martin’s Cathedral. For 267 years, the church hosted the coronations of Hungarian kings and queens making it a significant landmark in the region. The church itself is 800 years old and in 1291 it was rebuilt to be part of the city walls. Although the walls no longer fully surround the old town area, part of the wall still exists. The interior of the cathedral is quite large with many interesting pieces of artwork.
St. Martin’s CathedralImpressive ArtworkOrnate PewsOne of the Sculptures within St. Martin’s Cathedral Large Interior of the CathedralWall Connected to the St. Martin’s Cathedral
The current cathedral was built in 1452 and features four chapels. There is the chapel of Sophia of Bavaria, the chapel of St. Anne, and the chapel of St. John the Merciful. The portal of the southern antechamber is considered to be one of the oldest examples of Renaissance architecture in Slovakia. The dome on the clock tower of St. Martin’s Cathedral can be seen from throughout the area. The church is certainly a highlight of any visit to Bratislava.
Detailed ArtworkPulpit in the Main ChamberMemorial Reliefs in the ChurchCarving on a PewThe Organ PipesCathedral Ceiling
One of the ancient sites in the city of Athens in Greece is the Roman Agora. An agora is simply a public space for people to gather, but they also often contained monuments to the gods and other important features. The main feature at the Roman Agora is the Tower of the Winds, which is considered by some people to be an early version of a weather station. There was a weather vane on the top of the tower that indicated the wind direction that would have been visible from throughout the city. What we found most interesting about the Tower of the Winds was the water clock that was housed within the tower. In a way, it is an ancient version of the clock towers that have become common throughout the world.
The Floor of the Tower with the Hole in the CenterThe Large Well-Like Hole on the Side of the TowerLooking Up at the Tower
The water clock works very much in the same way that a sand timer works in that the flow of water is controlled and as a vessel is filled at a specific time measurement. Today, in the center of the tower floor is a hole with channels coming from what looks similar to a well on the side of the tower. We aren’t sure what the inside of the tower would have looked like when it was in use, but we certainly enjoyed seeing it in its current form. The ingenuity of the ancient Greeks is certainly something fascinating to see in these modern days. All around the top of the tower are carvings of the eight wind deities that were worshiped in ancient times.
Hole in the Side of the Tower Wall to Allow Water to Enter the TowerView of the Tower of the Winds and the Roman Agora
The city of Budapest in Hungary has such an interesting history and there are many wonderful sites to see when visiting the capital city. One of the places that should certainly be visited is the Dohany Street Synagogue, also known as the Great Synagogue. There are many reasons to take time to go to the synagogue, most notably the synagogue itself as well as the Hungarian Jewish Museum that is located there. When walking around the grounds of the synagogue, you will find two spots that are both beautiful and yet humbling at the same time. First is the Jewish Cemetery that is located at the synagogue, which is something very unusual indeed. The second is the Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park, which is a courtyard with the focal point being the weeping willow artwork.
Inside the Courtyard of the Great Synagogue Standing in the Cemetery with the Plaque in the BackgroundTrees in the Cemetery with the Synagogue Adjacent
We happened to visit Dohany Street Synagogue on a rainy day, which in many ways enhanced to the atmosphere as we walked around the synagogue to see the memorials that are located there. In a period of history that is important to remember in order to ensure that it never happens again, the memorials honor the over 400,000 Hungarian Jews who were murdered by the Nazis during World War II. The cemetery is certainly unusual in that the Torah specifies that burials are supposed to be outside of the city, but this was a matter of circumstance as about 2,000 people were buried at the site during the Holocaust in a makeshift graveyard. Today there is a lush garden amongst the various headstones to commemorate those who are buried there.
The Imre Varga Weeping Willow Art Piece Memorial in the CemeteryAnother View of the Cemetery
At the rear of the synagogue is the Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park. The artwork by Imre Varga depicting a weeping willow with names and tattoo numbers of those whose lives were lost there engraved on the leaves. The water from the rain was glistening off of the leaves and branches while were there and it was truly as if the artwork was actually weeping on the day that we visited. We had a similar experience when we saw the Shoes on the Danube Bank, which is another memorial to those who were murdered during the Holocaust. It is a very somber experience as you walk around the grounds, but certainly something that should be seen when planning a trip to Budapest.
Artwork Depicting People Being MurderedHeadstones in the CemeteryThe Weeping Willow from Behind
