Old Town Hall (Bratislava)

Old Town Hall
Stará radnica
Old Town Hall in Bratislava, Slovakia
Former names	Régi városháza
General information
Type	Town hall
Architectural style	originally Gothic, now baroque, neo-renaissance and neo-gothic
Location	Main square, Bratislava, Slovakia
Current tenants	Museum
Construction started	13th century
Completed	1599
Renovated	18th century, 20th century

Old Town Hall (Slovak: Stará radnica, Hungarian: Régi városháza) is a complex of buildings from the 14th century in the Old Town of Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It is the oldest city hall in the country and it is one of the oldest stone buildings still standing in Bratislava, with the tower being built approximately in 1370. The town hall was created in the 15th century by connecting three townhouses, and then went through several reconstructions in the course of the centuries.

It houses the oldest museum in Bratislava, the Bratislava City Museum, founded in 1868, featuring an exhibit of the city history and an exhibit of torture devices. The outlook from the top of the Old Town Hall tower offers a round view of Bratislava Old Town and its environs.

The Old Town Hall is located in the heart of the city center, between the Main Square and the Primate's square at: 48°08′38.0″N 17°06′32.8″E / 48.143889°N 17.109111°E / 48.143889; 17.109111. It is next to the Jesuit Church and near the Greek and Japanese embassies. It is easily recognizable by its colorful tiled roof.

Finished in the Gothic style in the 15th century, it resulted from the joining several buildings: Jacobus' house with a tower, Pawer's house, Unger's house and the Apponyi palace (Slovak: Pawerov dom, Ungerov dom, Aponyiho palác, Hungarian: Pawer ház, Unger ház, Apponyi palota). The principal building adjacent to the tower and facing the Main Square was built by the town Mayor Jacobus II (also called Jakab, Jakub) in the 14th century, while the tower (originally Gothic) was erected in the late 13th century. Towers made of stone were part of some medieval townhouses in order to provide safety in case of war or protection of wealth in case of fire. Although exact date cannot be specified, details of the gothic windows suggest it was built approximately in 1370. The tower's ground floor was one meter lower than today's street level. The tower was reinforced and modified several times over the next centuries; at one point it contained mechanical clock, a large sphere depicting the current phases of the moon and above that there were bells.