Accommodation

Please contact Anikó Szakál if you need accommodation in the Castle during the symposium.
E-mail: szakal@uni-obuda.hu

Single room: EUR 30/night
Double room: EUR 60/night

First come first served.

You are kindly asked to fill in the Hotel Check-in Form in advance, and take it with you, so hotel chech-in will be faster.

Castle is fully booked for now.

Accommodation possibilities:

Garni Hotel SOLMUS
Penzión STEAK HOUSE
Chata ZÁRUBY - JAHODNÍK

Smolenice

Smolenice is a village and municipality of Trnava District in the Trnava Region of Slovakia, on the foothills of the Little Carpathians. It is 60 km northeast of Bratislava and 25 km northwest of Trnava.

Smolenice Castle

Smolenice Castle was built above the village in the 14^th Century, as a part of chain of the castle protecting passes in the Little Carpathians. The castle with the village was royal at first, but it kept changing its hands for several centuries, until the Pálffys took it in the 18^th Century, when the castle was in decay. During the Napoleonic Wars, it burned down, and only outer fortifications remained. In the 20^th Century, reconstruction of the Smolenice castle ruins began, and was reconstructed as a château. Reconstruction finished after the Second World War.

History

In the 15^th Century the importance of Smolenice increased considerably, because a castle was built there which became the centre and seat of the Smolenice estate. Early in the 16^th Century, Smolenice had been gained by the Orszagh family. In 1777, Jan Palffy takes the Smolenice estate as pawn. The Palffy family did not live at the castle, which had decayed considerably during the life of Kristof III, the last of the Erdody family – they lacked money for maintenance. The decay was complete during the Napoleon Wars – the main castle building and the tower had burnt down.
Construction of the Smolenice Castle of today had been started early in the 20^th Century by Jozef Palffy Jr., the landlord of Smolenice and Dobra Voda estates. First work on the fortification walls started in 1887 already on the bastions. Bastions from the old castle were preserved, with height extension and new roofing. The Count Palffy had built the castle at his own expense according to design by the architect Jozef Hubert. During World War 1, the construction was interrupted; provisional adaptation of some rooms was made and archives of the Palffy family was located there. The construction was not resumed before the end of World War 2. In 1945 the Castle became the property of the State; it was taken over by the Slovak National Council who decided to have their summer-house there. The castle was finished and furbished and handed over to the Slovak Academy of Sciences on 26 June 1953 to become a representative place for meetings of scientists from worldwide.

Travel Information

If you plan to travel by plain to Vienna, there are Eurolines buses (almost every hour) right from the Vienna airport to the Bratislava Central Bus Station (Bratislava AS, Mlynské Nivy). You can check the time tables at http://listky.emtest.sk (Please note, that the countries are stated in Slovak although you click English. A short vocabulary: Slovakia=Slovenská republika, Austria=Rakúsko, Hungary=Madarsko, Germany=Nemecko.) The best way to get to Smolenice (Castle) from Bratislava (Central Bus Station, Mlynské Nivy - in Slovak stated as Bratislava,AS MHD) is by bus.

If you will travel to Bratislava (Central Railway Station) by train, you can take the trolley-bus No. 210 to get to the Bratislava Central Bus Station (Mlynské Nivy). You should buy a 30 min ticket for 18 SKK in advance in a kiosk.

If you plan to travel by car, please note, that it is possible to park right on the patio of the Smolenice Castle. In this case you can ignore the trafic sign "DO NOT ENTER" and drive right up to the Smolenice Castle.

Individual Program

1. Trip to Cervený Kamen Castle
Cervený Kamen Castle is originally a royal castle in the Small Carpathian Mountains; it is documented in writing as early as in the middle of the 13^th Century. In the 16^th Century its owners, the Fugger family, rebuilt the castle to a mighty fortress with a new fortification system. This fortification system belonged to the very cutting edge of military technology of that age. The exhibition contains rich collections of historical furniture and a picture gallery.

2. Trip to Driny Cave
Driny Cave is the only show cave in the western Slovakia. It is located in the Smolenice karst in the Small Carpathian Mountains, to the southwest of Smolenice. The mysterious hole in the earth was known for the local people already in the 19^th Century, but only in 1932 they dared to enter underground. Flowstone draperies with indented facing are typical for this cave.