The Primate´s Palace, considered to be the most beautiful Classicist buildings in Bratislava, was designed by Hungarian architect Melchior Hefele for the Archbishop of Esztergom and Primate of Hungary, Cardinal Jozef Batthyany in 1778. The palace and the famous Hall of Mirrors witnessed many major historic events, such as the signature of the Treaty of Pressburg between Austria and France in 1805 or the opening session of the Hungarian Parliament that had its seat in the building of today´s University Library. In August 1903, the palace was bought by the city and today serves as a seat of the city mayor of the capital.

The Primate´s Palace is closely related to the history of the City Gallery of Bratislava, as until 1975 it served as a seat of the gallery that regularly presented its exhibition projects in the exhibition hall on the ground floor. In the State rooms, the collections were displayed until the reconstruction of the palace in 1986.

In 1993, a new permanent exhibition was installed in the State rooms on the first floor (piano nobile) – the Picture Gallery that features over 60 works of art.

In the entrance hall the visitors can see official portraits of selected monarchs of the Habsburg and Habsburg-Lotrin family, which were originally placed in the Old Town Hall that doesn´t exist anymore. A precious and unique set of six English tapestries from Mortlake has been installed in five salons on the northern side of the building, overlooking the square. Other works displayed in the Primate´s Palace include paintings depicting biblical scenes from the workshops of Italian artists of the 16th and 17th centuries. In small rooms oriented southward the visitors can see collections of the 17th-century Dutch and Flemish genre painting. The last room leads to the oratory in St Ladislav chapel.

The building of the Primate´s Palace has been administered by the City Council of Bratislava.