Bratislava City Gallery – Mirbach Palace

Why visit

Mirbach Palace is one of the best-preserved Rococo buildings in the Old Town, built in the late 18th century and named after its last private owner, Count Emil Mirbach.

Today it is a venue of the Bratislava City Gallery (GMB), which pairs a permanent display of Baroque art with temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary work.

What to see

• Courtyard: free to enter, with a fountain by sculptor Viktor Tilgner.
• Graphics cabinets: two first-floor rooms whose walls hold 290 engravings, etchings and mezzotints from the 17th and 18th centuries, coloured by hand and set into wooden panelling beneath Rococo stucco ceilings.
• Baroque painting and sculpture: the permanent display of Central European Baroque art, many works originally from churches and monasteries in the region.
• Temporary exhibitions: changing shows of 20th-century and contemporary art.
• Emil café: on the ground floor, with seats under the vaults and in the courtyard.

Plan your visit

Paid admission covers every exhibition in the palace; a combined ticket adds GMB’s Pálffy Palace. Entry is free on the first Wednesday of each month, and GMB runs English-language tours on one Thursday evening a month.

Allow about an hour and leave time to look closely at the graphics cabinets. The Franciscan Church is next door and the Main Square a 3-minute walk.