Žilina Gallery :: Fotogaléria mesta Žiliny

90 – Townhouse 6, Mariánske nám.

Turistická informačná tabuľka č. 90 s QR kódom na meštianskom dome na Mariánskom námestí č. 6
(Foto: 8. 3. 2014)

This house was particularly well-known because it was home to the Golden Eagle, a well-known Žilina pharmacy. It had originally belonged to Mikuláš Skalka, a minor squire, in the 18th century. It was sold for a mere 950 gold coins in 1766. Subsequently, the house suffered a similar fate as virtually all the houses on Marianske Square, i.e. it changed hands frequently. In 1850, it was bought by Anton Ďuriš, whose daughter Jozefína then inherited it, and in 1884 it was bought by his son-in-law Arthur Lombardini, who married Alojzia Ďurišová. She was a famous amateur actress in Žilina. Vojtech Deutsch, who started to run a pharmacy in it, purchased the first right to refusal on it in 1923. However, the house was greatly damaged after the bombing in 1944 and almost the entire first floor had been destroyed. In 1962, the house became the property of the state. Nonetheless, it was still a pharmacy. The first pharmacy in Žilina was known as the Monastery pharmacy and was located in the home of the Jesuits. The Golden Eagle Pharmacy was the second oldest pharmacy in the town. It was established in the mid-19th century. Pharmacist Ignác Tombor, who was a commander in Žilina’s Košút Guards in the town during the revolutionary period worked there in 1848.
The prominent historian Alexander Lombardini married Tombor’s daughter. The house entered into the annals of Slovak history because on 2nd January 1849 after the victory of the imperial army and the Slovak volunteers (Hurbanovci) over the Hungarian Army and the Košút Guards at the Battle of Budatín, a Slovak People's Congress was convened by Slovak representatives in front of it. A small wooden stage was built in front of the house, and Ľudovít Štúr, member of the Slovak National Council, nationalist, teacher, and publisher, addressed the inhabitants of the town and surrounding area, alongside Jozef Miloslav Hurban, another important figure in Slovak national history. They appealed to the people to fight for the national freedom of the oppressed Slovak nation. It was after this Congress that house number 6 went down in Slovak history. According to unverified sources, Žilina lawyer Alexander Lombardini, who wrote the first history of Žilina, also lived in this house for a short time. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of Žilina was located in this building at the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The headquarters of the Austro-Hungarian General Insurance Company was also based here. Its trading name, Assicurazioni Generali, can still be seen on postcards of old Žilina. Its offices were in the roof space. The pharmacy, still based in the house, began to encroach on the neighbouring house. The pharmacy continued doing business well throughout the socialist period until the early 1990s, when a confectioner’s began production on the first floor of the building.

Source: PhDr. Marián Mrva. Text prevzatý z webovej stránky TIK Žilina (kliknite): www.tikzilina.eu.