The Trinitarian Church or Trinity Church, full name Church of Saint John of Matha and Saint Felix of Valois (, or or ; incorrectly Holy Trinity Church (''Kostol Najsvätejšej Trojice'')), is a

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

-style church in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

borough, on the Župné námestie square. The church was built on the site of the older Church of St. Michael, which was demolished in 1529, along with the settlement of St. Michael, during the Ottoman wars, along with other suburbs, so as to see better the attacking Turks. The Trinitarian Order started construction of the church in 1717 and it was sanctified in 1727, although work in the interior continued into the first half of the 18th century.

Description

The design is thought to be copied from the St. Peter's Church in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. The arch is dominated by a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

with

trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

from Italian Baroque painter Antonio Galli Bibiena. The massive main

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

of the church was presumably built by A. G. Bussi. Its main work of art is an

altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

depicting St.

John of Matha John of Matha, OSsT (1160–1213) was a French Catholic priest and cofounder of the Order of the Most Holy Trinity, initially dedicated to ransoming Christians who had been captured by marauders from North Africa. Background Between the eighth ...

and St. Felix of Valois ransoming prisoners from Turkish capture. Statues of St. Agnes and St. Catherine situated at the rear of the main altar are attributed to the Bavarian sculptor Johann Baptist Straub. The rear altar of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

was built in 1736 on the order of the Count Zichy. This altar has a copy of the

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

painting of the Madonna. The main portal is richly decorated in

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

style, celebrating the Holy Trinity.

History

At the time of the consecration of the church, a

Trinitarian The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

monastery was built on the site of a nearby cemetery. However, the Trinitarian Order was closed by Joseph II in 1782 and the comitatus (county) office took possession of the building. However, it did not suit its needs and was almost wholly demolished; the "County House/Building" (Slovak: ''Župný dom'', Hungarian: ''Vármegyeháza'') was built in 1844 in its place and became the administrative seat of the Pressburg county. Concerts by various composers, for example by

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

, took place in the Great Hall of the building. From 1939 to 1994 Slovak National Councils (since 1992

National Council of the Slovak Republic The National Council of the Slovak Republic (, abbreviated to ''NR SR'') is the national parliament of Slovakia. It is unicameralism, unicameral and consists of 150 members, who are elected by universal suffrage under proportional representation ...

) were housed in the building until the seat was moved into a new parliamentary building next to

Bratislava Castle Bratislava Castle (, ; ; ) is the main castle of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. The massive rectangular building with four corner towers stands on an isolated rocky hill of the Little Carpathians, directly above the Danube river, in ...

. Some of the notable political events that took place here included Tiso's government declaration of independent Slovakia on 14 March 1939 and the passing of the independence declaration on 17 July 1992.Lacika, "Bratislava", p. 139 From 2003 to 2009, the church was the cathedral of the Military Ordinariate of Slovakia.

Notes

References

* {{coord, 48, 08, 46, N, 17, 06, 24, E, region:SK-BL_type:landmark, display=title Roman Catholic cathedrals in Slovakia Roman Catholic churches in Bratislava 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Slovakia Churches completed in 1727 Trinitarian Order Cathedrals of military ordinariates

Description

History

See also

Notes

References