St. Catherine's Chapel

Bratislava, with its long history, has housed several churches since its inception. In addition to the well-known, large church buildings, there are also many smaller, almost unvisited by tourists, but valuable churches and chapels. These include the St. Catherine's Chapel, hidden in the eastern wall of Mihály Street, one of the city's main streets, starting from the Michael Gate. ; This is probably the oldest Gothic building in the city that is still standing today. It was built by order of the Cistercian monk Ferenc Columba in 1311-1325. This order used it until the 16th century. Later it was used by the Capuchin friars. ; The chapel, built in a closed row on the street front, has an east-facing axis. Although the interior and vaulted sanctuary still retain the Gothic character of the chapel, its street facade was rebuilt in 1840 in the Classicist style based on the designs of Ignác Feigler the Elder. This narrow, tall, elegantly understated facade is almost lost among the street's roaring Renaissance and Baroque houses, so the stream of tourists who flow along the street in summer hardly notice this valuable chapel. ; The chapel's comprehensive historic renovation work carried out in 2007, during which efforts were made to restore the earlier Gothic details, was recognized the following year by the Slovak Ministry of Culture with the "Renovation of the Year" award.