The Pedestrian Zone
A sword as a symbol of peace – (at the Museum´s entrance) – the bronze sword is an enlarged copy of a sword found in a 9th century nobleman´s tomb. The bronze handle is covered by geometrical ornaments and masks. The sword´s blade is buried in the ground, making it a symbol of peace. (by Marián Žilík)
Bronze well pump – a stone and bronze piece surrounded by a bronze grid, a Great Moravian symbol. The pump´s slender column ends in a breast shaped top – a symbol of persistence and secrets of life. (by Marián Žilík)
Granite fountain – the piece is accessible by several stairs that gradually disappear in the pavement. Around the fountain itself, the ground is covered by a fine granite mosaic. Columns covered with climbing plants surround the object. The fountain itself is made of a single block of granite. (by Marián Žilík)
Great Moravian style sewer lids – the Pedestrian zone´s infrastructure created the necessity of covering a number of diverse shafts. The designer of the lids was prompted by archaeological finds, such as Great Moravian bronze tools and ironwork with their plant and geometrical patterns. (by Marián Žilík)
Music clock – an almost five metres tall object, made chiefly of stone and bronze. The settlement of Nitra has always been dependant from the Nitra River, which is represented here by a bronze engraving on the column´s lower part. The double clock face, 90 centimetres in radius, is designed to recall the early 20th century. The clock´s machine strikes a high tone every quarter hour and a low tone every full hour. Every full hour, a short tune is played according to a set order. In the morning you can hear a chicken and a rooster, then a series of Slovak folk instruments, the violin, fujara, cimbal and bagpipe. At noon, a children chorus sings the piece Nitra, dear Nitra. During the afternoon, the musical style moves from folk through modern to classic. At 10 p.m., French horns announce the coming of the night and after midnight, marked by Yesterday by The Beatles, the clock strikes every hour by short quiet tunes.
Corner fountain – the fountain is conceived as a block of natural stone, travertine, with a bronze nozzle divided into two branches shaped like horse heads. The potable water it gives falls onto a shell – like table and flows down into a bronze grid ornamented in Great Moravian style. A stone plate bearing fragments of the poem Pribina by Ivan Krasko is put on the wall above the block of stone. The Great Moravia seats, made of silicate trachyte, and the bronze cross silhouette are an artistic interpretation of archaeological artifacts found in “Great Nitra“. The bulky appearance of the bronze cross stands in contrast to the four stone seats. (by Jaroslav Košš)
And the sticks of Svätopluk – important features of the Pedestrian zone are its movable and other minor items, such as benches, stone seats, trash cans, lampposts, poster poles, information boards, advertisment boards, bicycle stands, mailboxes, horizontal and vertical grids to protect the trees and stone pillar supports. Some of these include a certain message by themselves, for example the information board (blackboard plus pencil equals information) is designed in the shape and proportions of the Romanesque church of Drážovce and the shelter above the poster poles is shaped in reminder of the Museum´s roof at the entrance. The metal supports of the stone pillars represent king Svätopluk´s legendary three sticks, their one end still tied firmly together, but the other becoming rather loose already ... (by Tibor Zelenický)
