Piarist Monastery and Church in Nitra

The Piarist order known as an order of pious schools came to Nitra in 1698 with the aim to educate and teach poor children. Three years later the foundation stone of the monastery was laid. The Piarist monastery was built in stages in accordance with the construction of the Baroque church of St. Ladislav.

The church nave divides the internal courtyard of the monastery into two parts. A massive canopy-shaped altar from 1750 decorates the interior. In addition to the main altar there are other three pairs of side altars. The vaulted ceiling is decorated by late baroque paintings by artists from the Piarist Order. After 1940 they were complemented by other fresco decorations with the motives from the history of the Nitra city. Their author is the Nitra artist Edmund Massani. The paintings depict the Pribina church, the arrival of Sts. Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia as well as the oldest subject matter from the modern history of the city - the consecration of the first three Slovak bishops in Nitra in 1921.