© Slovak post, 2006 Renaissance art in Slovakia arose in the early 16th century, simultaneous with the dying embers of the Gothic tradition. Thanks to artists and craftsmen from Italy and Dalmatia invited to Budína by King Mathias Corwinius, the Renaissance came to Slovakia a little earlier than other countries north of the Alps. Following the defeat of Hungarian troops by the Turks at Moháč in 1526, the architecture focused (especially in the southern parts of Slovakia) on the construction of fortifications and defence systems. Typical examples of Renaissance architecture in Slovakia are mansions (kaštiele). The renaissance boomed especially in Eastern...