History of Nitra

Principality of Nitra in the 9th century, the oldest known independent Slavic state in the present-day Slovakia. The first known Christian church built by the Western or Eastern Slavs was consecrated in 828 at the seat of the ruling prince Pribina, and in the same year the town was first mentioned as Nitrawa. In 833, Pribina was ousted from Nitra by the Moravian prince Mojmír I and both principalities were united into the early medieval empire of Great Moravia. The Principality of Nitra was usually given to the heir of the Great Moravian throne as an appanage. But the practice eventually threatened unity of Great Moravia. Using rich resources of Nitra, both Prince Svätopluk I and Prince Svätopluk II revolted against their formal sovereigns. The level of autonomy they enjoyed was considerable, as documented by the Papal correspondence, addressing Svätopluk I of Nitra in the same way as two contemporaneous rulers of independent countries (Rastislav of Great Moravia, and Koceľ of the Principality of Lower Pannonia).

The city reached its height during the reign of Svätopluk I, who was the prince of Nitra from the 850s to 871 and then the king of Great Moravia until 894. The first known Christian bishopric in Slovakia was established in Nitra in 880 (with Wiching as the bishop) and the first monastery in Slovakia was built on the Zobor Mountain during 880–881. During Svätopluk's rule, Nitra consisted of five large fortified settlements and twenty specialized craftsmen's villages, making it a real metropolis of its times. Several churches, for example in the Nitra Castle, Párovce, Nitrianska Blatnica, Lupka, Zobor, and Kostoľany pod Tribečom existed in and around today's Nitra during the 9th and 10th centuries. Located beyond the city limits are the Great Moravian settlements of Chrenová, Lupka, Branč, Vráble