City of Modra

The first written mentions of Modra date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. The oldest credible written source in which the village of Modra (villa Modor) is mentioned is the document of Bela IV. from r. 1256. In r. In 1361, Modra was granted the privileges of a serf royal town by the Hungarian ruler Ľudovít I. The privilege of Maximilian II. from 1569 he gained further rights and freedoms. In 1607 King Rudolf II. he privately promoted Modra to a free royal city and gave the city its own coat of arms. Between 1610 and 1646, the city built city fortifications with three gates. Part of the fortifications and the so-called The upper gate is preserved to this day.

The 17th and 18th centuries were a period of the greatest urban, construction, economic, religious and cultural prosperity. Modra retained the status of a free royal city until 1876, and then became a city with an established municipality. Since 1923, it has been a large village with the opportunity to call itself a city. The team remained so during the period of the Slovak Republic (1939 - 1944), although it did not have the required tens of thousands of inhabitants, but was a district town. After the Second World War, it remained a town and the seat of the district national committee until February 1949, when the seat of the district national committee was transferred from Modra to Pezinok.

In 1991, its historic core was declared a monument zone.

MODRANSKÉ VINOHRADNÍCTVO
Lesser Carpathian viticulture has its regional peculiarities, interesting assortment, surprising quality of wines and a long and rich agrarian culture. Unfortunately, we still do not know the beginnings of vine growing in Modra. The first written records date back to the 14th century. However, revenues from the sale of wine formed the basis of the Modran economy. The peak of Modran viticulture occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Turkish army blocked trade routes in the southern parts of Hungary. Modra was able to use this situation skillfully. With the successful sale of wine and other handicraft products, it gradually became one of the most important royal cities in Hungary, but also among the largest wine-growing cities in Slovakia.

JJ Schreiber, author of the first monograph on Modra, published in 1719 and is one of the oldest monographs in Hungary celebrating Modran wine in his book. M. Bel and JM Korabinský, the most famous Hungarian historians and geographers of the 18th century, also mention Modran wine. Both rate the Modran vineyards as the "most fertile" of the entire Lesser Carpathians.

An interesting archeological find was found in Modra, which could be related to ancient Roman viticulture. It is the discovery of the bronze head of the Gorgon, which was found in Modra sometime in the 19th century and was lost again during World War I. It was an attache, a decorative handle on a bronze wine container. However, this finding is confirmed by the fact that wine was imported here during Roman times.

In connection with the medieval development of Malokarpatska viticulture, it was confirmed that after the Tartar invasion in 1241, the German colonists only renewed with their knowledge and did not establish the tradition of growing vines. Wines exported to neighboring countries gained a good reputation as early as the 13th century. In the years 1607 - 1620, income from the sale of wine accounted for up to 70 - 80% of the total gross annual income of the city. It was mainly money from the wine trade that contributed to the promotion of Modra to a free royal city.

At present, the famous Modranské vineyards and winemaking traditions are represented, in addition to important oenologists, mainly by the Vincúr winegrowers' association, the Modra Viticultural Society, the Secondary Viticultural and Fruit Growing School together with many private winemakers from Modra and Kráľová. The Little Carpathian Wine Route is also located in Modra, which ensures the presentation and promotion of the entire region at home and abroad.

MODRAN CERAMICS
We do not yet thoroughly know the beginnings of Modranské pottery, but they date back to the very time of the town's origin. Viticulture and viticulture required the production of clay vessels and wine glasses. The pottery guild was founded in 1636. In the years 1870 - 1880 there was a pottery association "Utility pottery vessels from Modra". In 1883, the "State Pitcher Workshop" was founded. The city later took over the administration and founded the "Ceramic School" run by Jozef Mičko. In 1911 it was changed to the Workshop for the production of ceramic goods, the participating company Žák a spol. Samuel Zoch and Dušan Jurkovič were also participants. In 1923 it was renamed to Slovak ceramics and in 1952 to the production cooperative Slovak Folk Majolica. There were many excellent masters of ceramics in Modra, and Modran ceramics also won the highest awards at international exhibitions. Personalities such as Heřman Landsfeld or national artist Ignác Bizmayer are among the most important masters of European ceramics.

MODRANSKÉ BANÍCTVO
We don't know much about the beginnings of mining in the Modry district. They may have been related to the search for ores in the Little Carpathians, which had been carried out since the Bronze Age and which had certainly been carried out by the Celts, Germans and Slavs. The beginnings of medieval mining were probably related to German colonization. Directly in the territory of Modry there was a church of St. Barbara, which has been mentioned in old chronicles as being originally called the chapel of Sanctae Barbarae in Sivis, ie the chapel of St. Barbara in the forest. Several patrimonies of St. Barbara, the patron saint of miners, could point to the hitherto unexplored Modranské mining traditions (altar of St. Barbara, painting of St. Barbara, tower of St. Barbara, bell of St. Barbara). So far known written bills date back to the beginning of the 19th century, when in search of minerals in the More - Harmony during the excavation of the Trinity Tunnel on the eastern slope of Kamenný potok (above today's quarries in Harmony) a lead ore deposit was encountered. because a vein with gold or silver ore could not be found. Sometime before 1821, two mining companies were established in Modra, which operated 14 tunnels, in which intensive mining took place around the middle of the century, but the real golden vein could not be encountered.

MODRANSKÉ MLYNÁRSTVO
Modra has a written record of developed milling since the 14th century. In the city privilege of Louis I from 1361, the fees stipulate the obligation of the townspeople of Modra to pay 60 denarii to the queen or her official every year for each mill. The origin and development of the mill was connected with the effort to use the natural energy of mountain streams. In Modra, through which three mountain streams flowed, their natural energy was used not only by water mills but also by cloth mills and wood saws. At the time of the greatest development of the Modran mill mill in the 18th and 19th centuries, there were up to 13 mills directly in Modra and its immediate surroundings, mainly in Harmony. They were divided into 5 classes. The first class included the Schediovský mill, which has survived to this day and is part of the manor house on Horná Street. Several mills still stand today, but are adopted for other purposes.

BLUE CULTURE
Works of art, whether literary, artistic or musical, were born and still come into being in the cold Modrany wine cellars or in the shade of forests above the vineyards. In Modra, many well-known Slovak artists have sought and found inspiration - writers, artists, musicians, e.g. J.Smrek, V.Šikula, I.Bizmayer, M.Polonský, Ľ.Rapoš, I.Zeljenka, G. Dusík ...
When wandering Blue, you can always visit various cultural events. Recently, the tradition of an international classical music festival called "Music Blue" was established, which takes place every June. Regular exhibitions and concerts take place in the Eunika Art Hall (former German Evangelical Church), in the Ľ.Štúr Museum, in the private Merum Gallery, in the premises of the Ľ.Štúr Cultural House, in the Malokarpatské osvetové stredisko in Modra and on Ľ. Stur.

ŠTÚROVA MODRA
Modra is also known as the town of Štúrovce, which took part in the fight for national revival. In Modra, Karol Štúr was an Evangelical priest and director of the grammar school, and after his untimely death, his brother Ľudovít came to Modra. He took care of his orphaned children, but he also devoted himself to important literary work. He later died of his injuries here - on January 12, 1856. He is buried in the Modran cemetery, next to his brother Karol. In the years 1948 - 1964, Štúr 's tomb was more dignifiedly modified and decorated with a statue of the Slovak Spring - the work of the national artist Jozef Kostka. The year 1924 is also in the "Štúrovo spirit". A memorial plaque dedicated to Ľ. Štúr, located in the house where this national awakener lived. It is called Schnell's house on the square. A large monument on the square was built by Modrania Štúrovce in 1938. In 1956, the Memorial Room of Ľ. Stura in the house on the square, where he also died. In the same year, a memorial plaque was unveiled to Karol and Ľudovít Štúr in the Lower Suburbs, at the Evangelical parish. On the other hand, a board was placed on the town firehouse with the text that the town mountain worker Ján Veštík had secretly transported the persecuted Ľudovít to Záhorie from the parish in Jabloňov from there. Also at the place of fatal injury Ľ. Štúra erected a monument during the hunt in October 1956. A monument in the shape of a bench was built by Ľ. Štúr in the Holombecká valley at the foot of the Little Carpathians. Exposition Ľ. Štúra made available in 1965. After the reconstruction of the town hall, they also made a new literary exhibition about the life and work of Ľ. Stur. The last Štúrovský memorial is a blackboard on the former Evangelical grammar school on Dolná Street in Modra.

RECREATION AND TOURISM
In the history of Modry, one cannot forget the two oldest and most beautiful recreational areas. The first is Modra - Harmónia and the second is the Piesky Center and Zoch's Cottage, named after the delivery on April 30, 1933 in honor of the Evangelical Bishop and Nationalist Samuel Zoch. In the past, Modrania also went to Harmony for the rest of the year around 1850. The construction of the recreation center accelerated after 1881. The first building was the villa Harmónia, which was built by a ten-member consortium in 1888 - 1889. The first building in Piesky in 1889 was called. Men's house built by the town of Modra for summer accommodation of tourists. For relaxation and therapeutic stays, there were 75 km of groomed sidewalks, a summer swimming pool and a grass tennis court. The Association of Modran Touristists, founded in 1892, played an important role in the development of Harmony and Pieskov. Already at this time, a network of quality restaurants, cafes and pubs was built in the recreational area. Paradoxically, however, the communist regime slowed down the construction of Harmony and Pieskov as a sports and tourist center.

An interesting geological past is personified by the rock formations of the Three Riders, the Stone Gate, the Bartholomew's Rocks, the Tis's Rocks or the Bear Rock. Tisove skály is declared a natural monument. Beautiful nature, extensive deciduous and coniferous vegetation, many rare and protected species of plants and animals, along with hiking trails, a lookout tower on Veľká Homola, the observatory of Bratislava Comenius University and ski lifts serve visitors looking to exchange the urban environment for nature and nature.

In recent years (2001), tourism enthusiasts have built a tourist lookout tower on the Veľká Homola hill. The real joy for everyone is climbing on it. An ancient legend says that Odysseus (Ulysses), the hero of the Trojan War, who returned home to his wife - the faithful and beautiful Penelope - allegedly stopped on this hill. Ján Juraj Schreiber, a citizen of Modran, also chose to ascend from Modra to Kogel. He looked around the Lesser Carpathian Pentapolitan and stated that the god had given Modra the most gifts among these surrounding places.

Schreiber, among others, said in Latin:
"Look at Blue, bluish not only after the old name, know much more correctly that she is azure. Zephyrus, Ceres, Flora and Bacchus seduced the fire in an effort to give Modra more: grain, wine and flower. It's full of bird songs, the roar of streams, torrents, you will surely understand for yourself that God is behind that beauty ".