Located at the confluence of three mountain massifs, Great Farta, Low Tatras and Slovak Ore Mountains, Banská Bystrica is a former mining center and historic city of great touristic importance. In its center, Baroque buildings and several interesting churches have been preserved.
The location in the lower mountain range makes Banská Bystrica a good base for mountain hikes. Routes converge here leading, among others, to the highest regions of Velka Fatra and the Low Tatras. The well-known Jasna-Chopok ski area is also nearby.
The city was founded in the 12th century, but traces of settlement and mining works date back to the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Celtic times. In the Middle Ages, the city belonged to the three richest mining centers of central Slovakia, and gold and copper were mined here.
Banská Bystrica was also an important shopping center with the privilege of organizing fairs. Today, a souvenir of this splendor is the Radwan Fair held at the beginning of September, during which tens of thousands of visitors come to the city. At that time folk craft products and traditional food products are sold here.
The city center is a large, rectangular market square surrounded by baroque tenements. At its end are the remains of the former city castle in the form of a barbican. Above it rise the towers of the Old Town Hall and the Romanesque-Gothic church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. On the market, in turn, the dominant feature is the two-tower facade of the baroque cathedral of St. Franciszek Ksawery.
For Slovaks, Banská Bystrica is also a symbol of the struggle for independence. In 1944, the Slovak National Uprising against Germany broke out here. Today it is remembered by a mausoleum in the shape of a broken heart, a large monument and a museum with an exhibition of military items.
