Slovak National Gallery´s seat in the Zvolen Castle will host a unique exhibition about the Father of Europe - Charles the Great. Besides numerous interesting historical exhibits, the Castle will get back the Crown of Saint Stephen in its perfect true copy after almost 400 years.
Charles the Great, a significant ruler, considered the patron of the integrating Europe, led the Frankish Kingdom, Europe's hegemon in the Early Middle Ages, to its heyday. The king of the Franks and Caesar of the West, as Charles is called, promoted education, commerce, art, and laid the foundations of European culture and education.
The exhibition Heritage of Charles the Great, focusing on the 9th - 11th century, the time of the rise of today's Europe, pays special attention to the Central Europe, namely to the territory of today's Slovakia. For the purposes of the Zvolen show, an extra part was dedicated to historical regions of Hont, Novohrad, Gemer, Malohont, Zvolen, and Tekov, having regard to the beginnings of the town Zvolen.
The most attractive exhibits to be seen by the visitors are: a collection of 9-10th century finds from the Nitra surroundings, a collection of jewellery from grave goods of the Prague Castle, of the hill fort Libice, the renowned princely grave from Zemplín, and from the local heritage: a set of exhibits from the Pustý hrad in Zvolen, from the hill fort Môťová - Priekopa, and from early Slavic settlements from Zvolen and the region.
The exhibition Heritage of Charles the Great is exceptional also because it brings back as one of the exhibits the Crown of Saint Stephen, which was deposited here in the years 1619-1621.
The show will be open to public from September 13 to December 9, 2018 in the SNG premises of the Zvolen Castle. It has been prepared in cooperation with experts from Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands, Croatia, Hungary, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Italy.
Organisers:
Monuments Board of the Slovak Republic, Institute of Archeology of the CAS, Prague, v.v.i., Institute of Archaeology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Nitra, Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovak National Gallery, and the town Zvolen.
Partners:
Slovak National Museum Bratislava, National Museum Prague, Magyar Nemzeti Museum Budapest, Bratislava City Museum, Diocese Nitra, Central Slovakia Museum Banská Bystrica, Museum of Forestry and Wood Technology in Zvolen