Maria Hatalova

She grew up in Rača from an early age, where she still works today. Already during high school, she enjoyed learning about the history of Bratislava, and in order to share her knowledge with others, she decided to become a local history guide a little later (1976). Her guiding activity was also significantly helpful in her professional career - after studying at the University of Economics, she worked in the state administration for a long time, including more than 10 years in the tourism section of two ministries. Thanks to this, she was able to fulfill her main goal - to help people get to know Bratislava and Slovakia.

As a guide, she focused on Russian, English and German speaking groups (she guided for several travel agencies), during the summer tourist season she worked as a lecturer at the Bratislava and Devín Castles and Slavín. Thanks to her erudition, she was significantly involved in the structures of the Bratislava Information and Promotion Service (BIPS, today BKIS) for many years. In cooperation with its methodological department, she participated in the preparation, guidance and evaluation of the legendary competition of Bratislava schoolchildren Know your city.

As a member of the BIPS Guides Committee, she contributed to the preparation and implementation of a generally binding regulation on the control of guide activities in the territory of Bratislava. For several years, she was a member of the editorial board of the BIPS Homeland Science Bulletin (an internal periodical intended for guides, published in the years 1970–2000). She also worked as a lecturer and member of the examination committee of the Tourist Guide course, where she primarily carried out lecturer interpretations of Bratislava Castle, as well as model demonstrations of walking and bus tours.

Currently, she is involved in various volunteer activities related to learning about history and working with people. As a resident of Rača, she has made a significant contribution to popularizing the history of her district. She is involved in the activities of the Rača Museum Association, whose goal is to bring the history and monuments of Rača closer not only to its residents, but also to visitors.

She contributes articles about the history of Rača to the portal račan.sk and to the monthly magazine Račiansky výber. She prepares exhibitions dedicated to learning about life in Rača in the past, as well as lectures and local history walks with an emphasis on Rača monuments. She participated in the publication of the monograph Rača. From history and monuments (2017).

He systematically devotes himself to pilgrimage tourism, where he prepares a program for Radio Mária and contributes articles to the monthly magazine Pútnický list.
Centrope collaborated with the Bratislava Self-Governing Region and the Slovak House on the project of the European Cultural Route of St. Cyril and Methodius, which received certification from the Council of Europe in April 2021.