Slovakia – Banská Bystrica, Žilina October 2, 2019
BANSKA ŠTIAVNICA (pop 10,000)
Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity. This is a completely preserved medieval town, and WHS listed in 1993. Its history is tied to silver mining with the first settlement in the 3rd century BC. The Slavs built a fortified settlement in the 10th and 11th century. “Bana” means mine and “Stiavnica” means acidic stream. German settlers started arriving in the 13th century.
In the high and middle ages, it was the main producer of silver and gold in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Ottoman threat led the town to build two powerful fortified castles in the 16th century. A leader in the Protestant Reformation, it was also a leading center of mining innovation. In 1627, gunpowder was used here for the first time in the world. To drain water from flooded mines, a sophisticated system of water reservoirs and channels, known as tajchy were built in the 18th century. It saved the mines and also provided energy for early industrialization. The first mining school in Hungary was founded here in 1785 and along with a forestry school became the first technical university in the world. In 1919, after the creation of Czechslovacia, it was moved to Sopron in Hungary.
In 1782 it was the 3rd biggest town in Hungary with 23, 200 people and including the suburbs, 40,000. Mining declined after the second half of the 19th century and now the town is an important recreation and tourism center.
New Castle. This 5-story white square tower has 4 round corner towers. The museum tells the story of the 150 years of war with the Ottoman Empire. €3, 1.50 reduced
Trinity Square. Simply a widened area of the main street, it is dominated by a monumental plague column.
Old Castle (Starý zámok castle) Considered a “stone chronicle of the town“, its walls are the gate to the oldest secrets of Štiavnica. Its history goes as far back as the 13th century when the Church of Saint Mary (three-aisled basilica with a square presbytery) was built on the spur of the Paradajs hill together with a cemetery. In the 15th century the Church and the cemetery were surrounded by a wall and in 1540’s it was transformed into a fortress protecting people against Turks. The vault of the main nave was later demolished and the parvis was created. Buttresses, the spiral staircase and consoles are the proof of a Gothic reconstruction. Originally Gothic castle tower with an underpass is a dominant feature of the castle. Its today’s appearance is Baroque – as a result of the reconstruction carried out in 1777, when it was transformed into a bell tower.
The Chapel of St. Michal has a part above ground was called “karnárium” (carnarium) and the part underground – “ossarium” (ossuary), a storage place for non-rotten bones found when digging new graves.
It now holds a museum about the oldest region’s history called “Miners Are Coming”, the exhibition of shooting targets, smithery, the famous pipe workshop or the exhibition of Baroque sculpture and Calvary in Asylum. The tower also offers an attractive view and some exemplars of historical clockwork. See the medieval dungeon in the tower of Himmelreich. Remains of the wall-paintings come from the 14th century. €4, 3 reduced Open Air Mining Museum (Slovak Mining Museum). The surface portion has mining buildings and equipment moved here from various regions of Slovakia, educational geological exhibition and exhibition of quarrying and mining machines.
1.5km long, the underground portion goes down the Bartolomej shaft to see about mining in the 17th-19th century, mining tools and equipment. The highlight is the underground equipment called “gápeľ”, that was driven by horses and comes from the late 19th century. it was used to drain groundwater used with two thousand horses and as many people. It is the only equipment like this preserved in Slovakia. This is a 1.5km underground excursion in mines dating from the 17th century. €6, 4 reduction
Another ancient mine under the center of the town is also open.
Tajchy. The town is surrounded by several of these water reservoirs built in the 15th to the 19th centuries to provide energy. They are connected by a more than 100km long network of channels.
BANSK BYSTRICA
St. Francis Xavier Cathedral. On the main square, this relatively small, single nave church has 3 baroque chapels per side, a balcony all the way around and some nicely cared choir stalls.
Vlkolínec. World Heritage Site (1993)
This village in the centre of Slovakia is a remarkably intact rural medieval settlement of 45 buildings – traditional log houses often found in hillside and mountainous areas – with the traditional folk architecture of a central European village. Its layout is determined by the hilly terrain of the mountains and National Park of Velka Fatra. The log houses are on narrow lots with stables, barns and smaller outbuildings in the rear. The majority are privately owned, 10 are owned by the municipality and the church is owned by the RC church. A canalized stream flows through the village. Around are narrow strips of fields and pastures with haylofts. It has been preserved largely because of its isolation.
It has roots in the 10th century, its first records date to the 14th. Five streets were present in 1469. Most of the buildings date from the 19th century. A row of buildings was destroyed by fire in WW II have not been replaced. Outbuildings are at risk of deterioration due to high vacancy rates and lack of appropriate uses.
Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary. Built in 1875 murals
School murals
Most of the log houses have stone foundations with dressed logs and corner joints and have received many coats of paint in some rather garish colours. The most striking is a light pink foundation and lemon yellow logs. I am sitting in front of one that is a deep yellow with red trim windows and a dark brown foundation. Only a few have never been painted. The bell tower built in 1770
Google Maps gave me one of the biggest runarounds of our flawed relationship. She repetitively directed me up an undrivable road that approaches the town from the north. There is a good single-lane paved road with good signage about 3kms south through a village.
RUZOMBEROK
Hlinka Mausoleum Ružomberok: (Mauzolum Andreje Hlinka). In the NM “The Dark Side” series, this is a large monument with a high stone wall, a wide central stairs with 61 steps and a multitude of balcony railings. There is a good write up about Hlinka in English but the metal gate to the mausoleum is locked.
Andrej Hlinka (1864 – 1938) was a Slovak Catholic priest, journalist, banker and politician, one of the most important Slovak public activists in Czechoslovakia before Second World War.
Born in Černová (today part of the city of Ružomberok), Hlinka graduated in theology and was ordained priest in 1889. He tried to improve the social status of his parishioners, fought against alcoholism and founded credit and food bank associations.
Politically, he was a strong defender of Catholic ethics against all secularizing tendencies In 1905, he was elected parson in Ružomberok and became active in the Slovak national movement. His activities met with disapproval from the church hierarchy, which suspended him as a priest and he was imprisoned in 1906 for sedition. In 1907, he founded the Ľudová banka (People’s Bank).
Hlinka became party chairman of the Slovak People’s Party in 1913and remained in this position for the rest of his life. At the end of World War I, Hlinka significantly contributed to the creation of Czechoslovakia but was promised autonomy of Slovakia within Czechoslovakia. In April 1920, he was elected to the Czechoslovak Parliament and released from prison. Thereafter, he led the struggle for autonomy and for acknowledgment of an independent Slovak nation for almost 20 years. His motivation was based on religious and language grounds. His party quickly became the most popular party in Slovakia with potential around 25%–35%.
Hlinka was known for his charisma, temperament, stubbornness and sharp tongue. The same qualities made him a difficult partner for negotiation. At the end of his life, Hlinka was more a living symbol of the party than a real policymaker.
Liptovský Mikuláš. In the NM “small towns” series, it is located on the Váh River, about 285 kilometres NE of Bratislava. The craftsmen formed guilds. The oldest guild was the shoemaker’s guild mentioned in 1508. There were also other guilds: the guild of smiths, furriers, tailors, hatters and butchers. The legendary Slovak “Robin Hood” Juraj Jánošík was sentenced and executed here in 1713 by being hung by the ribcage on a hook. It was one of the centres of Slovak national movement.
NOMAD MANIA Slovakia – Banská Bystrica, Žilina
World Heritage Sites
Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity
Vlkolínec
Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area
Tentative WHS
Gemer and Abov churches with the medieval wall paintings (01/10/1995)
Original Meadow – Pasture Sites of Slovakia (11/02/2002)
Sights
Demänovská Ice Cave
Museum of the Slovak village, Martin
Orava Castle
Vrátna Valley
Borders
Czechia-Slovakia
Hungary-Slovakia
Poland-Slovakia
Slovakia (river border)
XL
Orava Region
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars
Čierny Hron Railway
Historical Logging Switchback Railway in Vychylovka
Slovakia Intercity Railway Experience
Vrátna Cable Car in Malá Fatra National Park
Museums
Čadca: Kysuce Museum
Kremnica: Museum of Coins and Medals
Ružomberok: Liptovske muzeum
House Museums/Plantations: Čičmany: Múzeum Radenov dom
Castles, Palaces, Forts
Halič: Halič Castle
Hronský Beňadik: Hronský Beňadik Castle
Oravský Podzámok: Orava Castle
Strečno: Strečno Castle
World of Nature
Mala Fatra
Tatra
Festivals
Dixieland Festival, Banská Bystrica
Folklore Festival, Vychodna
Salamander Days, Banska Stiavnica
Planetariums: Žiar nad Hronom: Regional Observatory and Planetarium Maximilian Hell
Waterfalls
Lúčanský Waterfall
Roháčsky Waterfall
Caves
Bystrianska Cave
Demänovská Ice Cave
Domica Cave
Važecká Cave
Hospitality Legends: Teplice: Hotel Royal Palace
Open-Air Museums
Čičmany: Museum Village
Čierny Balog: Lesnický skanzen Vydrovo
Vychylovka: Museum of the Kysuce Village
Zuberec: Museum of the Orava Village
The Dark Side
Ružomberok: Hlinka Mausoleum
European Cities
BANSK BYSTRICA
Museums
Banska Bystrica: Museum of the Slovak National Uprising
Banska Bystrica: The Central Museum
House Museums/Plantations: Banská Bystrica: Matej’s House
Religious Temples: Banska Bystrica: St. Francis Xavier Cathedral
MARTIN
Museums: Martin: Slovak National Museum in Martin
Open-Air Museums: Martin: Museum of the Slovak Village
ŽILNA
Museums: Žilina: Museum of Povazie Region
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Zilina: Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
Entertainment/Things to do: Stanica venue, Zilina
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Žilina: Budatín Castle
Villages and Small Towns
Čičmany
Liptovský Mikuláš
Podbiel
Terchová
Vlkolínec
Zaježová
BANSKA ŠTIAVNICA
World Heritage Sites; Historic Town of Banská Štiavnica and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity
Castles, Palaces, Forts: New and Old Castles
Museums: Slovak Mining Museum
Open-Air Museums: Banská Štiavnica: Open Air Mining Museum
Botanical Gardens: Banska Stiavnica: Banska Stiavnica Botanical Garden
Open-Air Museums: Banská Štiavnica: Open Air Mining Museum
KREMNICA
Museums: Kremnica: Museum of Coins and Medals