Known as the "Gateway to Hungary" (Porta Hungariae), the castle once protected the routes of the Amber Road and a major pilgrimage route to the Holy Land.

Dendrochronological examination of the wooden material from the ramparts of Bratislava Castle suggests that the trees used for the beams were felled in the 10th century.

The Primate’s Palace in Bratislava was built between 1778 and 1781, according to designs by the court architect Menyhért Hefele, commissioned and financed by József Batthyány.

Bratislava’s first Catholic church under King Solomon was likely inside the castle, but at the request of King Emeric, Pope Innocent III in 1204 granted permission to the provost, and then Pope Honorius III in 1221 allowed the main church to move out from the castle.