July 2019
Nitra is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of about 78,353, it is the fifth largest city in Slovakia. Nitra is also one of the oldest cities in Slovakia; it was the political center of the Principality of Nitra.
(Wikipedia)
Little Nitra by rights should have been made the capital of Slovakia rather than the very German-Magyar city of Preßburg (Bratislava) [see: Bratislava]. Decisions as such are not just based on history and culture, however; and Bratislava's position on the Danube, its multi-ethnic population, and its better infrastructure made it more of a logical choice (even if on the map it is literally in a far corner of the country - as close as possible to the Austrians and Hungarians and as far as possible from the Slovaks). Little Nitra, built around its castle hill, remains something of a forgotten outpost, proudly memorialized only in Slovak history.
Getting to Nitra required a train change from Bratislava (that surprised me), so it was difficult to make a day trip that did not involve sitting in a station waiting for another train. After a longer journey than was necessary, I was finally in Nitra whose station was located outside the city center (just to add more frustration). The walk was not terribly long to the downtown and soon I was in its totally unremarkable central square, Svätoplukovo námestie, right under the castle hill. It should have been beautiful, but it wasn't. The old town square was marred by a modern cultural center in what should have been a classic baroque town center. It was one of the most disappointing aspects of Nitra.
That impression would change quickly as soon as I entered the castle hill via a very plain archway under a nearby building. As I walked up the hill, Slovak history began to unfold and with each step the views over the lower town became better. Old homes, a locally famous corner statue of a muscular-man-cum-support-pillar of a house, and the small residences of former bishops and other "almost royals" - the castle hill had all of Nitra's history nearly packaged. I passed through another archway and I was in the castle proper. I paid for my entry ticket and roamed around. In the chapel a choir was practicing and I stopped to listen. The music was angelic - one of the best memories of that entire trip to Central Europe.
After being satisfied with Nitra's history, I retreated down to the main square and nearby I had some duck with a frosty pint in an old tavern. The meal was extremely cheap and extraordinarily delicious. Something about the fare of that part of Europe I found deeply satisfying - perhaps it was my German roots needing "substantial" food not "fancy" food? After lunch I slowly explored my way back to the train station. I found the old city synagogue which sat totally empty and abandoned with only one memorial plaque to mark its dark history [see: Velká synagoga, Plzeň]. Eventually I was back at Nitra's very non-descript railway station headed onward.
I only came to know more about Nitra after my visit because one of my colleagues in Bangladesh was actually FROM Nitra and she told me some more about it (and was shocked that I had even visited). She inspired me to read more about the place. It made me understand why the castle hill was so lovingly preserved compared to the rest of the town - in a way it held the soul of the whole country. I should have appreciated my time there more.
The heart of Slovakia is not in its capital - it is in a little city in the hills 100km away.