Nitra

Nitra´s reach history reaching back to Great Moravia was the incentive for proclaiming the town a monument reservation. Rare archaeological localities (Martin´s Hill, Lupka, Borinka, Šindolka in the close environs), are document proving that Nitra is one of the earliest urban settlement formations in Slovakia. After the fall of Great Moravia, a principality was set up here, with a castle, a bishop´s seat, a cathedral and the Romanesque church of St. Erasmus. The whole of these buildings has gone through a renaissance and baroque reconstruction. The Plaque Pillar by M. Vogherle from 1750 is perhaps the prettiest baroque artistic memorial. Beside the castle there grew up the so-called Upper Town with Canons´ dwellings and ecclesiastic buildings, such as the Great and the Little Seminary, the Franciscans= cloister and church, and the Zhupa House. The Lower town was repeatedly destroyed. The present houses date from a more recent period: the Piarists´church from the 16^th century, the church of the Sister of Charity from early 19^th century and the Synagogue in an eclectic oriental style from the beginning of the 20^th century. A significant solitary item is an early-Romanesque church at Párovce which takes contact in style with the Great Moravian tradition. The nature reservation with the Zobor peak as the dominant forms a magnificent natural backdrop to the monument reserve of Nitra.

.