Balassa Palace
Building, structure
According to the sources, it was built between 1752 and 1762 ("The Lamberg-, now Miklós Széchen-like house was once the house of Count János Balassa." - Ortvay T.) The house of Count János Balassa. The architect was probably Franz Anton Hillebrandt (Vienna, April 2, 1719 - Vienna, January 25, 1797), the chief architect of the chamber, who also worked for several distinguished clients in Bratislava. The banded ground floor of the building serves as the base for the upper two floors and is emphatically separated from them. The smooth wall surface on the first floor is surrounded by wall bands, which are connected to the main cornice with standing consoles. The paired windows in the central axis, united by a common tympanum, are also featured in the designer's work in Vienna, the Ulfeld Palace. Above the piano nobile on the second level, the windows are smaller and simpler, a façade layout that characterizes all of Hillebrandt's palaces. The ornate gateway, the sculptural figures, the large coat of arms, and the pediment also ensure the prominence and worthy emphasis of the central axis.