Do you know there is one day in a year when the doors of the Presidential Palace open to public? Have you ever been inside of the building where the head of our state receives its guests? If not, you can at least enjoy this photo journey :)
Presidential Palace, also known as the Grassalkovich Palace, is the official seat of the president of Slovakia. Dated back to the late Baroque, it receives guests through its courtyard with guards of honor. Once you walk in, you will find yourself in front of the beautiful main staircase in the foyer which leads to the main representing premises.
The first room you will walk into is the GRAND HALL. They used to call it the Main Hall in the past and use it nowadays for ceremonial purposes. It originally served as a ballroom or a concert hall in the 1760s. Would you guess that the glass chandeliers were made in the Czech Republic and the unusually large oriental hand-woven carpet was made in Iran, both at the end of the 19th century?
Next to the Grand Hall you can find the the president’s RECEPTION SALON. This originally musical salon of the palace is also decorated with a glass chandelier from Czech Republic. The big carpet comes from the north of Bohemia. The pictures of the walls belong to the collections of the Slovak National Museum. They feature for example the Habsburg family or Maria Theresa with her husband.
Following the tour, you will get to a so-called GREEN SALON which serves as a conference room and alternatively as a banquet hall. A Viennese firm made the furniture which you can see on the picture and the chandelier in this room (yes, coming from the same country as the others), is the biggest chandelier of the whole palace.
They created the BROWN SALON by merging two smaller rooms. The brown wooden vitrines contain a collection of state decorations and medals awarded by the president to the most outstanding domestic an foreign personalities. The portraits of former presidents of the Slovak Republic decorate the wall between the windows.
One of the cutest rooms of all for me is the GOLDEN SALON which was designed for the spouse of the president to receive visits but can also be used as a small dining room. The name of the room comes from the color of the wallpaper with a baroque-style pattern. The 17th century mirror in the richly carved gilded frame, hanging near the window, is the oldest piece of furniture in the palace.
When continuing the tour, you will pass the SALA TERRENA to which the entrance is from the garden. Thanks to the big glass walls though we were able to take a picture of our president welcoming his hosts.
What you can see on the following picture is the SMALL DINING ROOM with park views which serves as a private dining room of the president and his spouse.
THE CHAPEL of ST. BARBARA stands a few meters from the dining room. The chapel was originally detached from the palace and accessible to the public. Currently worships are held only occasionally at major religious or other events.
Once out of the chapel, you will get to the entrance of the already mentioned Sala Terrena. However, first you need to wait in the line as there are always many people waiting to shake hands with the president :)
After you have accomplished your shake with the president, we recommend a walk in the garden behind the palace.
Open day at the Presidential Palace is held annually on 14th June (09:00 – 17:00).
Check the 2018 Facebook event.
Author: Maria Kecsoova
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More information about the Grassalkovich Palace
Other Bratislava’s main attractions
