About us

Culture for everyone

Little Carpathian Cultural Centre in Modra is the only facility of its kind in the Bratislava region. It has been established under Act No.189/2015 Coll. on cultural and educational activities and it is focused on:

  • Providing counselling on cultural and educational activities
  • Supporting interest artistic activities and non-professional artistic work
  • Provision of exhibitions and competitions such as Výtvarné spektrum (Art Spectrum), Bratislavské metamorfózy (Bratislava Metamorphoses ), Štúrova Modra (Štúr´s Modra – recitation competition), AMFO, Nositelia tradícií (Bearers of traditions), Konc jak živé (solo dancers competition in folk dance and folk storyteller competition), Hrajte mi muziky vesele (competition of small brass music groups), Divadelné konfrontácie (theatre festival)
  • Realization of educational, presentation and competition events
  • Search, preservation, protection, access, documentation, inventory and creative use of intangible cultural heritage.

Little Carpathian Cultural Centre in Modra builds on the traditions and work of cultural and educational facilities within the former district of Bratislava – countryside, which have operated since 1960, and district cultural and social centres in Bratislava. It prepares or cooperates on preparation of more than 70 events for the general public annually.

Fine art with a focus on supporting the creation of non-professional artists is perhaps the most visible aspect of the activity of Little Carpathian Cultural Centre.  Every year, with the help of top professionals, it organizes Výtvarné spektrum, AMFO and CINEAMA for non-professional artists. For the general public, Salón výtvarníkov (Salon of artists) has been designed and since 2015 we have organized Dni otvorených ateliérov (Days of Open Ateliers) together with our Austrian partners.

One of the most popular events in the Little Carpathian Cultural Centre is the interpretation competition Malokarpatský slávik (Little Carpathian nightingale), which is attended annually by dozens of amateur artists. International festival of children’s folklore ensembles, which is attended by dozens of ensembles from Bulgaria, Serbia, Macedonia, Czech Republic, Poland and of course from all over Slovakia, is also very well known.

Little Carpathian Cultural Centre is a regional organizer of a number of competitions in the field of verbal and dramatic art. Who would not know recitation competitions like Štúrova Modra (Štúr´s Modra), Beniakove Chynorany (Beniak´s Chynorany) or Bratislavské metamorfózy (Bratislava Metamorphoses)? Through them, dozens of actors and performers grew up.

Popular events for the public

For the public, who are not artistically skilled, but interested in artistic and social life in the region, the Little Carpathian Cultural Centre organizes a number of popular events such as – Senior prom in February, Apple feasting with young wine in October and Christmas inspirations in December.

Little Carpathian Cultural Centre provides counselling in the field of cultural and educational activities to towns and villages within the Bratislava region, especially in its rural districts. It cooperates with a number of civic associations whose mission is to develop cultural traditions in the region. It organizes methodological courses for cultural workers, but also practical courses for artistic craftsmen (ceramics, tinkers, small art producers). Since 1994 it has been publishing the Vidiečan magazine bringing information from the local and regional culture of the Bratislava region.

Little Carpathian Wine Route

Little Carpathian Cultural Centre was at the beginning of the institutionalization of the Little Carpathian Wine Route as a product of tourism. That is also the reason why the Little Carpathian Wine Route Organization is based in the premises of the cultural centre and the work of the Little Carpathian Cultural Centre is signed at every event that takes place under the heading of the Little Carpathian Wine Route. And there is a lot of events – Otvorené pivnice na sv. Urbana®(Open wine cellars on St.Urban)  in May, Deň otvorených pivníc® (Days of open cellars) in November, Vína na hrade (Wine at the Castle) in May, Deň vo vinohradoch  (Day in the vineyards) in September. In the years 1995-2016, the Little Carpathian Cultural Centre provided presentation of Little Carpathian Wine Route at the International Tourism Fair (ITF) – Slovakiatour and abroad – in Poland, Hungary, England and the Czech Republic.

The borders connect us

The neighbourhood of the Bratislava Region with the Austrian states of Lower Austria and Burgenland provides many opportunities to learn how the same things are done elsewhere. The Little Carpathian Cultural Centre has long cooperated informally with several Austrian partners and since 2016 this cooperation has been institutionalized with the help of the Bratislava self-governing region through the cross-border cooperation project Cultural and creative revival of traditions – Heritage SK-AT, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund as part of the Interreg V-A Slovak Republic – Austria program. This project provides support for the Wine Festival (the wine competition of the Little Carpathian Wine Route and the wineries of the Jedenspeigen – Sierndorf community) and the Days of Open Ateliers, as well as for investment in cultural infrastructure.

One of the activities of the Heritage SK-AT Cultural and creative revival of traditions project is to build cultural-creative centre in the premises of the Little Carpathian Cultural Centre. The centre has been located in the current premises of the manor house in Modra since 2003. In 2015, the Bratislava self-governing region decided to further develop the centre as a cultural and creative centre with the help of EU funds through the cross-border cooperation program.

History of the building (možno samostatné menu v sekcii O nás, máme nejaké historické fotografie) In the list of monuments, it is stated that the manor house was built in 1700. The building represented kind of housing type of mill, where the mill race and the living area are placed in one building.  Written sources mention several owners in 19th century (since 1800 Ondrej Fiala, since 1809 Jakub Volfshendl). In 1813, yeoman Ignác Mayer with wife Terézia, nee. Vorišek bought the entire object from previous owners for 17,000 gold coins by auctioning and then sold it to Ján Emresz and his wife Katarina in 1814. In 1828, mill belonged to the first class of mills and had 2 wheels. Other owners were: since 1889 Jozef Maier, since 1894 Pavol Voda and since 3rd December 1912 Knight Arthur Polzer with wife Alžbeta, who were the last known owners. Arthur, a prominent representative of the Habsburg court and the emperor’s office, is associated with the romantic alteration of the building, which elevated it to a representative aristocratic residence. After the reconstruction in 1915, the building consisted of 29 rooms. After the abolition of monarchy, Arthur Polzer decided to sell the manor house. On 8th February 1922, the building was purchased for 485,000 crowns by the Czechoslovak Ministry of Economy for a well-known school of wine making and fruit growing, which moved from Bratislava to Modra in the same year.