Currency of Slovakia 20 Korun banknote 1993 Prince Pribina
National Bank of Slovakia - Národná banka Slovenska
The obverse side portrays Prince Pribina, who until AD 833 ruled a principality based in Nitra and was the first known Slavic ruler of territory that is now part of Slovakia.
The design on the back side illustrates Nitra Castle, a witness to the rich history of the town of Nitra, which has been the centre of a significant political formation - the Principality of Nitra - until the 11th century. Several times the main design is overprinted by part of a coral necklace dating from the 9th century with a crescent-shaped bronze locket, which was found by archaelogists at Nitra-Lupky.
Dimensions: 65 x 128 mm ± 1,5 mm
Designer: academic painter Jozef Bubák
Engraver: Ron Beckers
Manufacturer: Ba Banknote, Ottawa, Canada (1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2004),
(since 2001 part of Giesecke & Devrient, Germany),
Polska Wytwornia Papierow Wartosciovych, Warsaw, Poland (2006).
Slovak Koruna Banknotes
Prince Pribina
Pribina (c. 800 – 861) was a Slavic prince whose adventurous career, recorded in the Conversion of the Bavarians and the Carantanians (a historical work written in 870), illustrates the political volatility of the Franco–Slavic frontiers of his time. Pribina was the first ruler of Slavic origin to build a Christian church on Slavic territory in Nitra, and also the first to accept baptism.
He was attacked and expelled from his homeland by Mojmir I, duke of Moravia. Pribina first fled to Ratpot, one of the border lords in East Francia. Thereafter he was wandering in Central and Southeastern Europe for several years. Finally, in the late 830s, Louis the German, king of East Francia granted Pribina lands near Lake Balaton (now in Hungary) where he set up his own principality under the king's suzerainty. He died fighting against the Moravians.
Nitra Castle
Nitra Castle (Slovak: Nitriansky hrad, Hungarian: nyitrai vár) is a castle located in the Old Town of Nitra, Slovakia. It is a dominant of the city and a national cultural monument. It is the seat of the Diocese of Nitra.
The castle was built in the 11th century on the place of an earlier fort. The core of the castle is St. Emmeram's Cathedral with the Bishop's residence, with several different parts. The oldest surviving part is the Romanesque Church of St. Emmeram from the 11th century. The other two parts of the cathedral are the originally Gothic Upper Church from the 14th century, and the Lower Church from the 17th century. The originally Gothic Bishop's Palace got its present Late Baroque appearance in the 18th century. There are also surviving parts of the castle fortifications, the majority of which were created in the 16th and 17th centuries and smaller part from the Middle Ages. The church is currently being remodeled.