Pictoria - The Early History of Slovakia in Images / Najstarsie dejiny Slovenska v reci obrazov

The book Early History of Slovakia In Images from the Pictoria edition, introduces Slovak history to the world through pictures. Artistic photographs, accompanied by short texts in foreign languages, carry the reader effortlessly through the centuries.

The book is issued in two languages - German and English. Each foreign translation is accompanied by the Slovak equivalent so the book can also serve as a relaxing textbook for learning foreign language.

The Key to Continuity

Well-known author of books and TV programs about Slovak history, Pavel Dvorak usually shows history in its mysteries. He is trying to explore a new connections and exciting stories about people from forgotten times. He did so in this book.

"When did it all happen? It was long, long ago, more than 14 million years ago, when dry land surfaced from the bottom of the Cenozoics seas, which previously covered a large part of Slovakia. Solid land was formed, and history began to be written," has written Dvorak in a prologue of his book.

And he answers another question "When did it all began?" at the end. "History has no beginning and no end, we cannot reach its beginning, and we would have to imagine its end, and agree on it, because new history is born every second and gets mixed with the old into a never-ending chain. The face in this picture, created in the Middle Ages, used to adorn the headband of a girl who lived in the 14th century. It is the face of Gorgona, the ancient Greek Medusa....Why was this ancient face used to garnish a girls headband in the Middle Ages? Was it supposed to protect her virginity? And why do we continue to read ancient Greek myth even today? The answer is, because history has no beginning and it has no end, and for this we should be thankful."

Dvorak takes one of pieces of evidence that the Slovak history is continual. It is the lost key from the church door in Nitrianska Blatnica. "It was found in a crevice of a Great Moravian wall. The church in Nitrianska Blatnica was built during Great Moravian times and up until today it has served its purpose."