Cultural Directory of Slovakia

The Central Archives were established on 1 January 1963 as a scientific documentary department at SAS. Their function is to provide pre-archival care, to take documentation into their permanent custody, and to process, make available and protect archival materials from the institutions and major scientists of SAS.

The main responsibility of the Literature and Art Archive SNM is to archive and make available collections which are part of the national heritage, including handwritten and photographic documents relating to important figures from the field of Slovak culture, particularly those involved in literature and music.

The mission of the Slovak Radio Archive is to collect, create, make available and provide documentary and information sources for the creation of radio programmes and to administer the archival collections of written, music, video and audio documents that have been produced by the Slovak Radio over the period of its existence.

The Slovak University of Technology Archive is a specialised public archive which holds the archival records of STU plus those of Comenius University, the University of Economics in Bratislava and other 19 major institutional archives in Slovakia.

The primary objective of the University of Economics Archive is to manage and maintain university records. The Archive holds records documenting the history of the University and its management and seeks to ensure that the collections are preserved in accordance with the law.

Podtatranská Library in Poprad is the regional library for the districts of Poprad, Kezmarok and Levoca, functioning as a co-ordination and inter-library loans centre for municipal libraries within its catchment area, as well as being the principal public library in Poprad. It offers a wide range of services to the public including lending and reference books, magazines and local newspapers, CDs, DVDs and videos and CD-ROMs.

The Gorazd Zvonický Zemplín Library in Michalovce is the regional library for districts of Michalovce and Sobrance, functioning as a co-ordination and inter-library loans centre for municipal libraries within its catchment area, as well as being the principal public library in Michalovce. It offers a wide range of services to the public including lending and reference books, magazines and local newspapers, CDs, DVDs and videos and CD-ROMs.

The Central Library of SAS is among the libraries where their age does not determinate the date of their formation. When counting the age of the Central Library of SAS (it holds its name since April 1954) we must not forget its predecessors. The library immediately followed up on them and overtook their funds. From this perspective, the library is one of the oldest in Slovakia.

Comenius University in Bratislava Academic Library is a central scientific and information workplace focusing on information support for research and education at Comenius University in Bratislava.

The Library of the Faculty of Architecture at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava is a separate department; it is an administrative component of the pedagogical and scientific research base of our university. It functions as an academic library in accordance with the Library Act no. 183/2000 Coll.

Established in 1999, the Matej Hrebenda Slovak Library for the Blind in Levoča is the national library and information centre for visually handicapped people in the Slovak Republic and for Slovaks living abroad.

P O Hviezdoslav Library, Prešov is the regional library for the district of Prešov, functioning as a co-ordination and inter-library loans centre for municipal libraries within its catchment area, as well as being the principal public library in Prešov. It offers a wide range of services to the public including lending and reference books, magazines and local newspapers, CDs, DVDs and videos and CD-ROMs. Other services include study space, public-access PCs with Internet access, fax machine, microfiche reader, community Information, European information and careers information.

The Slovak Economic Library of the University of Economics in Bratislava is an information, educational and cultural institution which performs the functions of a university academic library and a specialised public research library. It provides free access to knowledge and information.

The Slovak Pedagogical Library is a specialised scientific library with a nationwide scope, focusing on the area of education, training and related disciplines. Thanks to its activities it provides free access to information on all media, meets a variety of cultural, informational, scientific research and educational needs, encourages lifelong learning and spiritual development. It works as a methodological library-information education centre.

The State Scientific Library in Košice, a universal scientific library accessible to the widest public, is a cultural, information and educational institution focusing on library, bibliographic, scientific, research, cultural and educational as well as editorial activities. It offers free access to information and supports lifelong education.

The Technical University Library is a specialised library which, corresponding to the orientation of the University itself, offers a wide range of information services. The library collection consists of 222,400 library units, 135,100 books, 1,038 serial titles, 100 videocassette titles, CD-ROM databases and Current Contents on Diskette databases.

The Prešov University of Prešov Library is the scientific, information, bibliographic, co-ordinative and advisory workplace of the University. It provides complex library and information services for all students, teaching and administrative staff but especially for the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Management and Faculty of Sports.

Vihorlat Library Humenné is the regional library for the districts of Humenné, Snina and Medzilaborce, functioning as a co-ordination and inter-library loans centre for 104 municipal libraries within its catchment area, as well as being the principal public library in Humenné. It offers a wide range of services to the public including lending and reference books, magazines and local newspapers, CDs, DVDs and videos and CD-ROMs.

The Slovak Library Association is an independent, voluntary association of libraries with the status of a public interest organisation. In the current conditions of the transformation and development of society, when libraries face up to many problems, co-operation is of the utmost importance.

The Institute has been established in 1939 as the State Archaeological and Conservation Institute. In 1953 it was included among working places of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The Institute carries out scientific and research activities in the field of archaeology and related disciplines within the framework of its own scientific and research programme, grant projects, state orders, international projects as well as of individual tasks of its professional workers. Obtained results are introduced into public life in the form of popularising and cultural educational activities.

The institute has been established as the Institute of Ethnography SAS in 1946, and it carries its actual name since 1992. No longer exclusively focused on tradition or remote rural communities, the institute has become one of the foremost Slovak locations for theoretically advanced field-based research on long-term effects of modernisation on a mundane life in both rural and urban areas.

The Institute of Musicology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences was among the establishing institutions of the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1943 and the Slovak Academy of Sciences in 1953. Its research is focused on musical culture in Slovakia in broader regional, international and social contexts, and including different fields of arts.

Institute of social sciences of Slovak Academy of Sciences (ISS SAS) in Košice was founded in year 1975 with the aim to research political, social, economical and cultural processes of Eastern Slovakia after year 1945.

Originating in 1964 as the Institute of World Literature and Languages, the Institute of World Literature is involved in research into the theoretical and historical issues of individual national literatures, including American, Bulgarian, Croatian, English, French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovene, Serbian, Spanish, Nordic, Baltic and Latin American.

The Institute is carrying out research into several areas of lexicology and lexicography (theoretical issues of description of contemporary, dialectal and historical Slovak lexis; theory of equivalent; synchronous and diachronous lexical dynamics), language system of the contemporary Slovak language, sociolinguistics, etymology, language cultivation and terminology.

The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic is a statutory organisation responsible for special state administration in relation to the protection of monuments and historic sites.

The Banská Štiavnica branch office of the Banská Bystrica Regional Centre of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic carries out the state supervision of the protection of the monuments on the territory of the district of Banská Štiavnica and part of the district of Žarnovica. The town of Banská Štiavnica is its seat.

The Lučenec branch office of the Banská Bystrica Regional Centre of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic is a field department which carries out the state supervision of the protection of monuments in the territory of the districts of Lučenec, Veľký Krtíš, Poltár, Rimavská Sobota and Revúca. The town of Lučenec is its seat.

A C T Nr. 49 from 2002 on the protection of monuments and historic sites:§ 11:Regional Monuments Boards

The Nitra Regional Centre of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic is a specialised state administration body that carries out the state supervision of the protection of monuments in the territory of the Region of Nitra. The town of Nitra is its seat.

The Topoľčany branch office of the Nitra Regional Centre of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic is a field department which carries out the state supervision of the protection of monuments on the territory of the districts of Topoľčany and Zlaté Moravce. The town of Topoľčany is its seat.

The Levoča branch office of the Prešov Regional Centre of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic is a field department which carries out the state supervision of the protection of monuments on the territory of the districts of Levoča and partially for the districts of Poprad and Kežmarok. The town of Levoča is its seat.

The Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, Trnava Regional Centre is a specialised body of state administration that decides on the rights and obligations of legal entities and natural persons in the field of the protection of monuments as well as archaeological finds and sites. The parent body of the Trnava Regional Centre is the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic.

The Prievidza branch office of the Trenčín Regional Centre of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic is a field department which carries out the state supervision of the protection of monuments on the territory of districts of Prievidza, Partizánske and Bánovce nad Bebravou. The town of Prievidza is its seat.

The Martin branch office of the Žilina Regional Centre of the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic is a field department which carries out the state supervision of the protection of monuments on the territory of the districts of Martin and Turčianske Teplice. The town of Martin is its seat.

One of two specialist restoration ateliers managed by the Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, the Bratislava Restoration Atelier undertakes research and restoration work as state assistance in relation to cultural monuments which are at risk. Its Chemical-Technological Laboratory specialises in the chemical-physical analysis of materials.

The Act was adopted by the National Council 13 years after the fall of the totalitarian regime, expressing the belief that not knowing one's past means being destined to repeat its errors, and that no unlawful acts of the state should be protected by secrecy, nor should they be forgotten.

The Slovak National Museum (SNM) is the largest museum institution, and also, taking into account the extent of its administered property, the largest cultural institution in the Slovak Republic. Its history began more than 110 years ago.

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One of the most valuable art nouveau monuments in Slovakia, the Andrássy Mausoleum was built in 1903-1904 around one kilometre east of Krásna Hôrka Castle as a family crypt for Dionýz Andrassy and his wife, Czech singer Františka Hablavcova, according to a project by Richard Berndl and Ing Arch Constantine Frick. The sculptural decoration is the work of Max Frick and Eduard Schmucker.

This neo-Gothic chateau at the foothills of the Mala Magura mountain range is one of the oldest and most significant Slovak castles. First mentioned in 1113, its first important owner was Matúš Čák Trenčiansky. The castle and its manor have always been royal property, and the king assigned them in earnest or into inherited property to devoted magnates.

Červený Kameň Castle is a unique example of medieval military architecture of European importance, a National Cultural Monument which through its advantageous position and unique collections is among the most visited castles in Slovakia.

Established in 1964 and named after the SNM’s founding father Andrej Kmeť, the Andrej Kmeť Museum is housed in the First Slovak National Museum Building which was built from a public collection of the Slovak nation in 1906-1907 and has been registered as a National Cultural Monument.

Housed in Prónay Mansion, the Karol Plicka Museum showcases the life and work of artist-photographer, filmmaker, ethnographer, folklore collector and teacher Karol Plicka (1894-1987), with special regard to his remarkable way of presenting the values of traditional Slovak folk culture. Today, his film records are unique documents of an already mostly extinct phenomena.

Martin Benka Museum is situated in Martin Benka House, which was built in the late 1950s for the needs of national artist Martin Benka (1888-1971), one of the most significant personalities of the founding generation of Slovak creative modern art of the first half of the 20th century; the artist took up residence here in 1959. In 1960, on the basis of a deed of gift, he handed over a share of his work to the state (5,200 works of varying format and creative technique) and partially opened his studio and a small picture gallery.

The Slovak Open Air Village Museum SNM offers the largest open-air ethnographic exhibition in Slovakia.