Чумна колона Plague column

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Near the bridge of the Slovak National Uprising is one of the most beautiful squares in Bratislava - Rybna. Its dominant is the high column of the Holy Trinity, created in the Baroque style. The reason for its installation was the promise given to the Lord by the inhabitants of the city during the longest plague epidemic in the history of Bratislava, which lasted from 1711 to 1713. She took the lives of 3.860 people. Bratislava was helped to get rid of the plague by the Archbishop of Esztergom, Hungarian Primate, Cardinal Christian August Saski, whose merits are marked on the bas-relief installed on the base of the column. By the way, it was the cardinal who initiated the installation of this Marian pillar.

The author of the Holy Trinity column is unknown. The stone fence was created by Austrian sculptor Martin Victor. In the middle of the XVIII century the column was damaged and needed repair. The Bratislava sculptor Josef Sartori was commissioned to carry out the restoration work.
He did not set himself the goal of accurately updating the statues on the column, but made his own amendments by modifying the sculptures. Therefore, we can now see the result of his work.

The pedestal on which the Marian pillar is mounted is decorated with reliefs on the theme of the devastating epidemic. Here you can see scenes of the last anointing, funeral and images of St. Rosalie. These reliefs belong to the carver Josef Sartorius. It is not known whether the original pillar had carved ornaments that were simply corrected by a sculptor, or it is an innovation of Sartorius. The pillar is decorated with 9 statues, among which the sculptural composition depicting the Holy Trinity stands out.