The Pearls of Slovak Culture

1. The Pearls of Slovak Culture

2. CONTENT • Spišský castle • Museum of Andy Warhol • Castle of Trenčín • Wooden oltar of Mister Pavol • Castle of Devín • Brdejov City • Wooden Churches • Slovak National Gallery • Our art creation

3. Welcome to Spis castle, one of the largest medieval castles of Europe. This is a unique territory where life started more than 5000 years BC, but even earlier Neanderthal man lived here. More than 800 years ago 634 m above sea level, the building of this monumental stone castle with an area 4,15 ha started. In 1993 the castle with its unique surroundings was included into the World Cultural Heritage List UNESCO. SPIŠSKÝ CASTLE

5. Museum was open on Sep. 1, 1991. The museum was founded on the initiative of Andy Warhol's brother John, the arts teacher Dr. Michal Bicko, Vladimir Protivnak and the Club of Friends of Fine Art at Medzilaborce (FFAM). This museum's predecessor was a little FFAM gallery which expended considerable effort, together with the Andy Warhol Society, in order that Slovakia would obtain an exhibition of works of one of best-know fine artists of the second half of our country, a foremost representative of the movement know as Pop-Art. Besides three permanent exhibition (Andy Warhol's serigraphies, combined technique, serigraphies and paintings of Paul and James Warhol and an exhibition on Andy Warhol's origin), it also organizes on its premises exchange exhibitions, concerts, seminars and further events. MUSEUM OF ANDY WARHOL City of Medzilaborce

7. Castle of Trencin • The castle was built over a settlement site that had existed from the Bronze Age through times of Celts and Germanic tribes to the Slavic settlement. In the times of the origins of the Ugrian state a royal castle had developed out of the older Great Moravia hill-fort-roost.National cultural monument. • The Castle of Trenčín built on top of a steep rock is undoubtedly the dominant of the town Trenčín and the region of Považie. The Castle, which is along with those of Spiš and Devín one of the biggest in Europe, is the National Cultural Monument. • It was the royal castle from the 11th century. The bulky fortifying system is the result of progressive perfection of an important boundary fort, later seat of the county.  

9. MASTER PAVOL OF LEVOČA • Master Pavol of Levoča lived in the creative background of Levoča for almost four decades. He is still considered as the greatest medieval artist in Slovakia • Master Pavol's gothic altar in Levoča • He came to Levoča in 1500 after he had developed his talent with the most important masters in Krakow and Nuremberg. • The carved decoration of the late gothic main altar in the St. James´s church in Levoča is his top work. With its height of 18.6 m it is the tallest altar of its kind in the world. Monumental are its three sculptures showing Our Lady with the Child, St. James and St. John Apostle. • It is said that Master Pavol pictured himself in one of the twelve statues of the Apostles from the beautiful composition of the Last Supper on the predella of the altar. • Master Pavol was not only a brilliant artist but also a good merchant and a respectful citizen of Levoča. The last notice of him was found in the documents from the year 1537. In Levoča, it is possible to visit the House of Master Pavol where he lived and created. Nowadays it is the residence of the museum Spišské múzuem v Levoči.

11. DEVÍN CASTLE • Devín Castle Slovak : hrad Devín or Devínsky hrad, which is a part of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. • Owing to its strategic position, the cliff (altitude of 212 meters) at the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers was an ideal place for a fort. Its owner could control the important trade route along the Danube as well as one branch of the Amber road. That is why the site has been settled since the Neolithic and fortified since the Bronze and Iron Age. Later, both the Celts and the Romans built strong fortresses there. In the Roman ruins, the first Christian church located North of Danube has been identified.

13. BARDEJOV CITY Bardejov is an ancient town located in the northeastern part of Slovakia, near the Polish border. The town’s beginnings are shrouded under a thick veil of history. According to historians, the town’s past reaches all the way back to the 11th century. The territory of present-day Bardejov has attracted settlers since the Stone Age. However, the first written reference to the town dates back to the 1240s, when monks from Bardejov complained to the King Béla IV. about a violation of the town’s borders by Prešov. By that time, an important church of St. Aegidius was already built. Heavily fortified in the 14th century, the town became a centre of trade with Poland. More than 50 guils controlled the flourishing economy. Bardejov gained the status of a royal town in 1376, later becoming a free royaltown. The town’s golden age ended in the 16th century, when several wars, pandemics, and other disasters plagued the country.

15. WOODEN CHURCHES • Kožany • Krivé • Lukov • Mikulášová • Hervartov • Zboj

16. SLOVAK NATIONALGALLERY - BRATISLAVA THE OLD ART COLLECTION This collection is from 18. and 19. century

17. SLOVAK NATIONAL GALLERY BRATISLAVA THE OLD DRAWINGS AND GRAPHICS The Maria Teresia portrait, 1741 The Ugrian krown, 1742

18. SLOVAK NATIONAL GALLERY BRATISLAVA THE ART COLLECTION FROM 20.TH CENTURY These paintings are from Slovak well known artists as: Zoltán Palugyay Cyprián Majerník Miloš Alexander Bazovský

19. SLOVAK NATIONAL GALLERY BRATISLAVA GRAPHICS AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 20.TH CENTURY Koloman Sokol: Bar dancing girls, 1932

20. This is our presentation at school: