Rusovce

If there is a place in Bratislava that I love the most it is Rusovce. Rusovce is a part of Bratislava town, it is located at the end of Petrzalka and on the right bank of the Danube river. It is bordering with both Hungary and Austria. You can cross the border with Hungary directly from Rusovce and enter Rajka, we went very often to have lunch in the Rajka restaurant on the weekends and then returned back to Slovakia. From Rusovce you can also go by bike via the fields in Rusovce and end up in Austria. Some people go for a nice ride on the bike there and back.

Rusovce is a place full of history, it was ocupied since old times and it was a roman guardpost called Gerulata. It is also the meeting point of 3 borders, the Slovak one, the Hungarian and the Austrian. It has old historical buildings and churches, it is close to the Danube and the Rusovce lake.

The first thing you see when entering Rusovce is beautiful small houses, white, yellow or green, surrounded by green gardens, full of fruit trees, flowers or chestnuts. It looks like a little village that you would visit on your vacation. The main square is small and simple, but very beautiful and nicely arranged. In the middle there is a cross and an artificial fountain that works durring the summer. There are coffeterias and restaurants around, two small motels, an ice cream parlour and the famous Mufuza pub. 

When entering the square you can see the Cafe bar, where in the summer there is a beautiful ice cream saloon. As we move into the square you can see the fountain and the small shopping mall. There is a grocery, a bicycle shop, sometimes there is a stand in front of the building, selling fresh fruit and vegetables. Durring the winter there are small wodden stall where there are sold christmas ornaments and food. There is also a christmass tree and other decorations.

On the other side of the square there is the famous motel Rusovsky Penzion. The inn has a few beautiful rooms, a restaurant and a terrace. From the distance you can see the tower of the St. Mary-Magdalene chruch, between the nice houses along the road. Near the hotel is the Mufuza pub, very famous in Rusovce, it serves sliders like chicken wings, burgers and fries, cold beer and in the summer is a very nice ice cream parlour. 

If we continue on the road we reach the Gerulata bus station and move to the left you can see the Church St. Mary-Magdalene. On the way there is a nice small playground for little children where my kid likes to play very much,  there are swings and a slide and colorful toys and tables. 

 

The church is a beautiful and simple village church, with white whashed walls and orange roof. The inside is beautiful, with baroque dark brown pews and altar. All around the church there is beautiful green grass and chestnut trees, there are beautiful snowdrops every springs covering everything. The main painting represents the Saint Mary-Magdalene at the feet of the cross. The church is the meeting place not only for the believers but other people in Rusovce. 

 

Connected to the chucrh there is a pastoral center where many activites take place like coffe after mass on Sunday, worshops for children before the Easter or Christmass, birthday parties but also gymnastics, joga, official meeting, presentations and religious meetings. One of the greatest meeting is the Agape, the blessing of the bread which is then served in front of the church, sometimes also with cakes and wine and juice for the children. 

 

 

The church also has a crypt which is open for visit in May when we are celebrating the Night of the churches. All churches in Bratislava are opened to visit, and visitors are free to visit everything in the church like the bell tower and the altar. There are also concerts or spectacles or special visitors invited durring the Night of the churches.

Near the church there is the parish house where the priest is living, a preschool for the little children which was build by the church and a playground belonging also to the church. On the playground we have yearly at least one picnic where the children play and the adult are grilling on a little fire sausages, mothers come with home made cakes. There are also other events like the Night of the churches in May and the Live Bethlehem in winter. 

A few hundred metters from the church there is the museum Gerulata, the place of the old roman postguard. You can daily visit the ruins. 

From the church you can go to the right and see the evangelical church, then  walking a few hundred meters more you can see the Rusovce Sluk. There is a club, a dancing school, a teather and a cinema, a pub and a restaurant. In front of it there is a nice playground for children where sometimes there are organized events. One of the events is the crafts festival, where children can try and see old carpenters, workers with wood, skin and iron.

From the Sluk building you enter the Rusovce park, where one of the most beautiful castles i have ever seen is present. The park is long and full of tall trees, which are green in spring and summer. The whole garden takes million of colors in autumn, trees turn red or yellow or rusty brown. The castle is in the middle of all things, white and beautiful. It belonged to different hungarian and autro-hungarian rich families, one of them the noble family Zichy, who also build the church and whose members are burried in the church crypt. Unfortunatelly the castle is in very bad shape, the interior is almost completely distroyed and even from outside you cand see the building is abandoned and in disrepair. 

Going out from the park you can see the old chapel Saint Vita. The small white church was in total disrepair until 2 years ago when the priest from our church started the repaires and reconstructions, now it is a cafeteria and, the inside was cleaned and arranged. Outside the grass was nicely cut and tables were arranged for the customers.

Continuing on the road you can see beautiful houses along the way, with large gardens full of flowers. There is also a new section of newely errected buildings with shops and restaurants and a new hotel. On the other side of the open fiels you ca see the austrian green hills and white wind turbines. The wind then continues to Rajka in Hungary.

Another nice place to see is the Rusovce cemetery, especially on All Saints Day. Every 1 November the streets of Rusovce are full in the evening. The people of Rusovce  are visiting the cemetery and living there large colorful bunches of flowers and candles. The view is amazing, in the evening when entering the cemetery, the candles are flickering from every tomb, there is carpet of candles in front of the main altar.

A nice meeting place for different celebrations durring the year is the stadium and the playground around it. My favourite celebration is the Hody, that is the celebration of the patron saint of our church, which is saint Mary-Magdalene in July. There is a holy mass on the payground in front of the stadium. Once the mass is over there is a picnic and celebration on the payground. There are snack bars with sandwiches and fries, stands with toys and sweets, bouncy castles for the children. 

Rusovce is one of my favourite places in Bratislava, it is the place where we had our wedding and where baptizes our child, where we go to church every Sunday, where our child grandparents live. We love visiting and going there for all the events and celebrations.