Palffy Palace, Bratislava

Palffy Palace is a Baroque-style palace in the Old Town of Bratislava, Slovakia. The Bratislava City Gallery is housed in Palffy Palace, one of two historic structures in the city. Mirbach Palace is the other structure, and we’ll see it as well. Permanent and temporary exhibitions of Slovak and international art are held in the City Gallery.

Palffy Palace is located on Panská 19 street in the heart of the city. This street is lined with pubs and restaurants, and especially during the summer, it is bustling with people sitting on the terraces.

Pálffy Palace provides a comprehensive picture of Bratislava’s many architectural styles and historical stages. The basement has traces of Celtic communities dating back to the first century AD, while secondary building elements in the preserved early medieval walls from the 13th century can be dated back to the Roman period.

The foundations of a gothic palace with a chapel in the basement and a starry vault from the 15th century on the first level have also been discovered. Four tombs from the 9th and mid-10th centuries have been uncovered in the basement, indicating that the Slavonic period left its mark. Other changes to the structure come from the 17th and 19th centuries.

The palace was purchased by the Pálffy family in the 18th century, but after the death of the final owner, Count János Pálffy, a philanthropist and art collector, it was given to the Bratislava City Gallery. It now hosts permanent exhibitions of gothic table painting and sculpture, as well as 19th-century central European art and sculpture.